HOTD Ark Survival Evolved Crossover
by The Ultimate Survivor
Summary: Stranded ashore the isle of ARK, a young American castaway struggles to survive in a hostile world filled with a variety of deadly creatures, and native tribals. With the arrival of a group of highschoolers baring ill tidings of the fate of the outside world, along with the sudden arrival of a strange figure known as The Keeper, the young castaway will discover the truth about Ark.
1. Prologue

Ark Survival Evolved Crossover

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I do not own Highschool of the Dead, or Ark: Survival Evolved.

Updated: 9/13/15

Now for the announcement...

 **Special Thanks:**

 **Many thanks goes to Draco38 for serving as my beta reader for this story, a first for me. Not only did he catch numerous tiny grammar errors that could actually harm the out come of this chapter but he even gave me some important footnotes that are much appreciated and will help me to avoid less errors in the future.**

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Prologue: A World Lost In Time

Fatigue, the soreness in his bones and the scorching heat of the mid-morning sun on his bare back was all he could feel. The cries of sea birds overhead and the whooshing of ocean waves could be heard all around him.

He was on a beach. But the question was where. What happened? One moment he was on a cruise ship in the middle of the Pacific then the rumbling started. The deep blue waters of the ocean churned and swirled as a massive metallic triangle with three different colored tips rose from the waters below the ship. The front tip of the triangle was blood red; the bottom left end was a deep glowing blue and the right angle a luminescing green. It was like a gigantic version of a musical triangle but with multicolored glowing lights and the ability to fly.

The triangle levitated high above the ship and suddenly a swirling purple portal erupted to life in its center. At first nothing happened, then he felt the wooden deck of the ship lift beneath his feet as the portal began to suck him inside. He could see other people, all of whom were screaming and some even tried to help hold him down as he levitated further and further away from them until they were nothing more than tiny spec's on an even smaller looking boat.

Then, everything went blank.

Now, he was on a beach, in a place he didn't even recognize.

Chirp

He peaked his eyes open; a small blurry figure blocked the sun from his eyes. It stood over him, cocking its bird shaped head curiously as he began to close them felt too weak to even open them again; his head hurt like hell and his entire body was sore. Not to mention he was lying on something firm and gritty. Sand obviously.

He winced as a blunt pointed object jabbed him in the side of the head. Feeling a little more strength return to his body, mainly due to the irritation he felt at being poked, he weakly peaked his eyes open. Looking up he squinted at the overshadowing figure. Waiting for the world to stop spinning, he tried to get a better look at the unknown creature

Once everything had finished swirling and all the numerous shapes merged into one. He widened his eyes. It… was a bird. At least, it _looked_ like a bird. Standing over his head staring down at him with a goofy looking expression on its face, was a little chubby grey fowl with a mask of bare orange skin topped off with a large thick black beak. It was no bigger than a medium sized dog, and just as curious too as it pocked him on the forehead with its big beak.

"Hey! Fuck off you little shit!" the stranded young man growled. Shooing away the feathered annoyance with his left hand, he froze at the sight of a diamond shaped crystal object encrusted in his left wrist. Panic welled up inside his chest as he began to dig and scratch at the newly realized bodily appendage. It wouldn't budge, in fact every jerk he made while he clasped the crystal with his fingers pulled his arm with it. It was perfectly fused with his body.

While he was busy trying to remove the infused crystal from his arm, the earth beneath his feet began to vibrate. A loud booming noise followed right behind him. Whirling around, he narrowly jumped out of the way as a massive tree trunk like foot slammed down where he was last standing.

Staggering away from the massive foot, he froze. His mouth gapped open in awe.

A dinosaur. A real life, honest to goodness dinosaur was steadily walking past him. Well, the front end of it at least. It still had another 50 or so odd feet of hind quarters and waving whip like tail. The creature had a long, streamline neck that supported a rather small head with lifted nostrils. The dinosaur was one of those long neck dinosaurs. A Brontosaurus.

The skin of the beast was oily smooth, and a rich brown in coloration. The skin gave off a white glare from the beating rays of the sun as it lumbered along the sandy beach, ignoring the numerous little grey birds scrambling to get out of its way. Mainly out of the way of its massive feet.

Staring past the lumbering titan, he widened his eyes at the sight of the tropical place. Palm trees and brush were lined along the shoreline and driftwood was scattered along near the water. Taking in the sights and sounds, the young man stifled a shaky sigh. He started walking towards god knows where. The numbness in his legs all but lifted away as he walked along the sand.

One thing was for sure though. He definitely wasn't in Kansas anymore.


	2. Chapter 1

**Updated: 9/16/15**

 **Special Thanks to Draco38 for serving as my beta reader.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of HOTD or The World of Ark Survival Evolved.**

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Chapter 1: Survival in a World Lost in Time

James remained low to the ground, hidden beneath the brush as he silently crawled his way through the thick jungle ferns. It's been a while, a year. Two years maybe. Ever since he showed up on this island, he had been fighting for survival in this harsh and hostile world.

And now he was hunting for food.

Feeling the tale-tale vibrations beneath his clothed chest, James tilted his head just enough to allow him to see the creature without rustling the ferns. Thus not revealing his location to his quarry. A Phiomia, a strange looking creature to say the least with its pig like features and elephant like trunk and tusks. But unlike most people who would discard the beast as distasteful, James had hunted these things before. And boy did they taste good if you cooked them correctly.

The beasty waddled its way down the beaten path, rooting its trunk-like snout through the dirt as it walked along. Good, it was distracted which meant…

James gave a sharp high pitched whistle, causing the Phiomia to freeze and look around. Its small ears perked up in alarm. Grunting and squealing urgently, the beasts whirled around to tear ass back the way it came only to have a small little black dinosaur covered in prickly quills with two twin blood red crest atop its head burst out of ferns opposite of the James's position.

The Phiomia skittered to a halt, hooting in confusion at the small little dinosaur as the little beast unfurled a stunning bright yellow frill and screeched up at the much larger animal. Arching its neck, the little dinosaur made a grotesque hacking noise before spewing a ball of sickly green venom at the Phiomia's face. Blinding the creature.

As the creature screamed in pain and staggered around in a blind attempt to escape its tiny attacker, James seized his opportunity and erupted out of the brush covered in fern leaves with a wooden spear in hand. Weaving around the creature's flailing flanks as it kicked out its hind legs in a panicked attempt to ev whatever attack might come; James slid to the exposed side and drove his spear straight through its ribcage and into its heart. Killing it quickly and cleanly.

James yanked his spear out of the creature's side. He watched as blood seeped out of the wound and trickled down the animal's side. Falling onto the bare dirt, he faintly remembered his first kill. It was a Phiomia just like this one, except he didn't kill it as quickly as this one. It had died screaming and James barely had enough time to harvest any meat from it before the creature dying screams drew in a pack of hungry raptors.

Hearing a small chirp behind him, James turned around to see the little frilled dinosaur stand right behind him. Its frill was folded and its head was tilted in a questioning comical way.

James couldn't help but smile at the little creature and pat it on top of the head. "Good job Spit," he praised.

The little Dilophosaur perked up and gave an acknowledging chirp. James chuckled inwardly; Spit was his faithful companion and only friend on this island. He was also an excellent hunting partner and guard dog. It seemed such a long time ago during James first couple of weeks on the island. Struggling to survive and find enough food and water to sustain him. It wasn't until he ventured to far into the mountainous regain west of the jungles that he came across a tribe of natives that took him in. Well, at first they captured him, then once they noticed the crystal imbedded in his left arm, they released him and treated him like some hero or something. Calling him, one of the Enlightened.

Looking upwards, James stared across the dimly lit sky at a glowing green levitating crystal know as a Beacon. These strange objects were supposedly objects that bared the "gift of the gods" or whatever the natives called it. Supposedly, the crystal on his arm can open one of these things, but he never actually tried to go after one of them. Mainly because of the numerous hungry predators stomping around and the hostile tribes that populated the island.

There were things much bigger than Spit that hunted outside the safety of the hidden jungle. And right now, it would be best he gather the meat from his fresh kill and get moving. Quickly.

Seeing that the sun was starting to go down, James placed his spear back into its hilt on his back and pulled his makeshift knife out of its handcrafted hide sheath from his chest. Kneeling down beside the freshly killed Phiomia, he began to harvest the exact parts he needed. First, he sawed off a good portion of the creatures hide. Mainly for more crafting when needed in the future. You could never be sure when you need more leather. Next, he moved on to the choice cuts. Removing the meat from the creature's shoulders and flanks, while Spit feasted on the creature's torso region, swallowing a mouth full of intestines before moving on to the liver. At least he'd be fed when they'd get back to camp, meaning James would just have to cook for himself tonight. These were the tenderest part of the Phiomia and the easiest to cook over a fire.

After placing the meat and hide into his rucksack, he swung the makeshift backpack onto his back and turned away from the mutilated carcass of the Phiomia. "Come on, Spit. Let's head back home."

Lifting his bloodied snout from the carcass, Spit ripped another chunk of flesh from the carcass before running after James as he began to make his way through the jungle making his way back home.

XXX

Finally, after a long hard couple of weeks fighting through hordes of undead and bandits along the way, Takashi and his friends had finally made it to sanctuary in the form of an evac boat piloted by an officer of the Self Defense Force. They could finally reach a safe place and not have to stay up late at night and hope they were not discovered by Them.

Takashi stifled a heavy sigh, closing his eyes and feeling the cool breeze of the ocean. _'Finally… it's over_ ,' he whispered inside his head.

"Hello, Takashi-kun."

Takashi opened his eyes and turned around to see the raven haired swordswomen Saeko Busujima approach him. Standing beside him, they both stared out across the open ocean from the small boat's deck. "It's nice not having to fight for our lives isn't it?" she smiled, leaning against Takashi's shoulder as they watched a school of fish beneath the water's surface swim alongside the boat.

"Yea, it's kind of weird not having to constantly look over our shoulders for any of Them," Takashi answered, smiling at Saeko as she continued to watch the water's surface. The two of them had grown close these past few weeks and were growing quite intimate. But, at the same time he still held feelings for Rei Miyamoto, his childhood friend.

Takashi frowned; he still remembered how Rei betrayed his love for her for his best friend Hisashi because he wasn't there to comfort her over a personal problem. He could never forgive her for that but at the same time, resented himself for not being there to help her deal with these problems.

When all of this started, he would sometimes go over all these _what if_ scenarios in his head. _What if_ he had been there for Rei. Maybe she wouldn't have left him for Hisashi. Maybe Hisashi might still be alive. Maybe... maybe...

He shook his head; he didn't know what to think anymore.

"Is something wrong?" Saeko asked, noticing the trouble look in his eyes.

"It's… nothing." Saeko frowned but didn't press the issue. She was quite aware what was wrong. She sighed and returned her gaze back across the ocean. Then, she noticed something.

"Takashi, what's that?" Saeko pointed out across the water at a flickering green light just below the water's surface.

Takashi glanced at her before following her finger, seeing the glowing green light as well. "I don't know. A sub maybe?" he answered, referring to a submarine. Then, the water around the boat began to churn and swirl. A white foam beginning to form as something below the water began to vibrate violently.

"I don't think that's a submarine!" Saeko called, having to raise her voice over a loud metallic like whirling noise.

Grabbing onto the boats railing, Takashi fought to stay on his feet as he looked out across the waters. He widened his eyes at the sight of an iron like bridge rising up from the oceans depths. Feeling even more rumbling behind him, Takashi looked behind him to the boat's left side and saw another metal bridge rising out of the waters. This one had a pulsating blue light at the end of it unlike the first which had a luminous green light.

Hearing the sound of a door flying open, Takashi saw the rest of the team run out of the boat's cabin. "What's going on?!" Rei exclaimed as the now levitating bridges began to rise out of the water. "What the hell is that?!"

Everyone remained dead silent as the bridge object levitated high into the air, revealing it to be a massive metal A with a glowing green, blue, and red ends. "What the hell…" Saya Takagi muttered, squinting her eyes as electricity arched around the strange floating object before suddenly exploding into a swirling purple vortex. "What the-!" Rei cut off as she began to float up into the sky.

"Rei!" Takashi called as he too began to levitate off of the boat.

Looking around him, he could see everyone including Zeke begin to levitate all around him as they slowly neared the swirling portal. He felt Saeko grab ahold of his arm and just as he was about to enter the purple pool of energy, everything went black.

XXX

James jerked his gaze up to the sky. A chorus of thunder roared overhead causing the jungle floor and even the trees to shake violently, making a few leaves fall to the ground. The sun was quickly blocked out by the sudden appearance of dark clouds. Purple lightning arched across the angry looking sky as it began to churn and rumble.

Spit squeaked in alarm and hid behind his master who could only stare up at the sky in alarm and awe. Something was happening. Something that he felt deep in his bones. Something... familiar.

Suddenly, in a blinding explosion of supernatural power, a beam of crackling purple energy parted the stormy sky and shot down straight to earth. But landed with a surprisingly quiet _boomp_.

Then, everything began to quiet back down. The rumbling quickly faded away into the sounds of rolling waves striking a beach just over the trees ahead of him and the clouds parted ways to allow the sun's rays to cover the island with its unbearable heat.

James just stared out through the trees where he had seen the beam land. Something just over the trees was... oddly familiar. As if he could relate to the strange feeling. "Come on, Spit," James motioned to his faithful companion who piped his head up at hearing his name.

Making his way through the thick undergrowth, James crept his way through the tightly packed tree line as he began to near the sounds of the ocean. Exiting the jungle, he found himself at the edge of a small rock ledge overlooking a short, narrow beach below as well as thousands of miles of ocean. Squinting his eyes at the sheer brightness of the unshaded beach, seeing as he spent most of his time in the thick wooded jungle he wasn't used to so much sunlight, James caught sight of seven figures laid out across the sand. Their soaking wet, sand covered forms made his eyes widen.

Humans...

XXX

Takashi's eyes fluttered beneath his lids, slowly returning to consciousness. Opening his eyes, he winced. Suddenly being blinded by the unrelenting glare of the afternoon suns hovering overhead. Bareing down on him with relentlessly.

What... what happened?

His entire body ached head to toe and he was sopping wet. Not to mention covered in sand. Wait, sand?

Where the hell was he? The last thing he remembered was standing on the deck of the ship with Saeko then..., that strange metallic construct arose from the ocean and sucked them inside a vortex of arching purple energy.

Now, Takashi was who knows where.

"Ah, my head," he groaned, lifting it from the wet sand. His skin felt as dry as sandpaper and his hair was full of sand. As were his undergarments. "Saeko...?"

"I-I'm alright," the swordswomen sighed. Getting up and rubbing the back of her head. "Where are we?"

Takashi blushed at the sight of her transparent clothes but none the less kept focus on the question in hand. Where the hell were they anyways? "Rei?"

"I'm here," acknowledged the spear wielding amazon, setting up. "Is everyone alright?"

"Yea," whimpered Shizuka, who rubbed the back of her sore head.

"Yea, were ok," Takagi murmured, glancing around questioningly. "Where's fat ass?"

"Over here..." moaned Kohta. Lying flat on his back with Alice on his stomach. "Sorry, Kohta-chan," Alice said, sliding off the larger kid's stomach.

"Good, we're all ok," Takashi sighed in relief. They weren't separated. Good. Which means everything should be ok.

"Uhhh, Takashi..."

"Yes Saeko, what's wrong?"

"What... the fuck... is that across the beach?"

Takashi cocked a questioning eyebrow than went pale as he noticed a _massive,_ he couldn't believe it, dinosaur. And it didn't look like the friendly kind either. It was big, really big, and dark red in color with flex of black along its hide. Maybe about the size of a school bus and it had an ugly wrinkled face with a mouthful of razor sharp teeth, two iconic looking horns over its large head and a pair of ridiculously tiny arms tucked in at its sides.

And it was looking directly at them.

"Is that a- is that a... dinosaur!?" Rei exclaimed, struggling to finish her sentence as the beast began to stalk over to them. Its head lowered in a threatening manner.

"Uh, that's a Carnotaurus," Takagi said, taking a step back.

Kohta hid behind her, peeking around her fearfully. "Is it a vegetarian?" he asked.

Takagi gulped, "No."

Takashi swallowed hard as the beast began to near, this time it was charging. And it was nearing, quickly. They had no weapons to defend themselves. His shotgun as well as everyone else's weapons had been left in the boats control room by the captain. _'Fuck me!'_ Takashi screamed in his head as the beast stampeded towards them at break neck speed.

Just as the beast was nearly upon them, a tennis ball sized rock clocked it right across the head with surprising force. Completely stunning the large animal.

"What the fuck?!" Takagi screamed.

"Hey!"

Takashi looked back in the direction the rock came from and was surprised to see a tall young Caucasian kid decked out in a set of leather armor standing above them on a large bolder with a slingshot in hand. Quickly leaping down and picking up another rock, the young man tucked it into the slings pouch and ran towards the stumbling monster. Swinging the sling over his head, he sent another rock sailing at the creatures head, striking it across the snout.

The monster roared in pain and anger, shaking its massive horned head to regain its senses, all the while stomping around smashing driftwood underfoot and almost stepping on a familiar little white dog.

"Zeke! Get over here!" Takashi hollered, ducking out of the way of the creatures thrashing tail.

Takashi looked over at the young American standing beside him, and panted, "Thanks."

"Don't thank me-yet. Just run!" he yelled, tearing ass towards the jungle. "Follow me!"

He didn't have to tell him twice. "Come on, follow him!"

"What?!" Takagi exclaimed, flabbergasted by his outlandish idea, then quickly complied as the Carnotaurus thrust its head in their general direction and roared angrily, running into the jungle after them.

XXX

James's heart raced within his chest. Looking behind him, he could see every one of the people from the beach running right behind him, as he heard the booming footsteps of the Carno stomping after them just around the corner of a boulder as they entered the jungle. Leaping over a fallen tree, James looked back to see the others easily made their way over the obstacle. All but one did.

The chubby dark haired kid with thick black glasses tripped right over the log while looking back at the tailing Carno.

"Hirano!" the pink haired chick called out. Widening her eyes as the Carno caught up to them and loomed over its fallen prey. Roaring down at him viciously as the boy screamed back at the beast in terror.

"Ah, fuck me!" James hissed, pushing past the others and ran along a log leaned up against the boulder. Pushing off and landing directly on the Carno's back. Pulling his spear out of its hilt, James drove his weapon into the beast's thick muscular neck earning a roar of agony and a snap from its menacing jaws, coating his dirty blue jeans in dark red blood.

Grunting with effort, James held on for dear life, as the dino began to thrash around desperately trying to throw him off, so it could seize him with its vice like jaws. But, this wasn't the first Carno he had fought, and certainly would not be the last.

Keeping hold on his embedded spear, James pulled his stone knife out of its sheath across his chest. He held onto the spear with one hand and his knife with the other, as he moved himself out of the way of the creature's jaws as it tossed its head to the side to snap him off its neck.

Letting the creature pull its head back for another bite, James tightened his grip around the knife handle and drove his weapon through the creature's eye and into the brain. The Carno screamed in pain at first then was quickly silenced as James gave his knife a quick twist, effectively killing it.

Swaying slightly on its limp legs, the creature toppled forward towards the group of stunned teenagers and landed with a mighty thud. After catching his breath and letting the adrenaline make its way through his system, James stood up on the fallen creature's head and yanked his knife out of its head. Pulling his spear out of its neck, James turned to the others, sweat-dropping as the young fat guy babbled. "Holy crap! Holy crap! Holy crap! Y- You killed a dinosaur! With a knife!"

"Keep it down," James said in a hushed voice, moving past them. "Follow me. You guys will be safe at my place."

"Wait, hold up." the young spiky hair kid called but James just ignored him. It was best that he got them to his house before he made any formalities. Especially the fact they were in Utahraptor territory.

Walking down the beaten path, James kept his ears sharp for any sounds above the ordinary. Alarmed cawing could be heard in the distance. But knowing raptors, they could be here in seconds. They had to move, quickly.

The good news was that they were almost to his house. The beaten path he made during his long stay on this island made it easier to get to specific landmarks such as the beach. But recently, raptors had been using his path as their hunting grounds. Meaning pretty soon he will either have to fight them or move.

Truth be told, he'd rather fight them. The pack he knew around here was small. About five dino's strong, led by a bright green colored alpha female. And boy was she smart; a little too smart for his liking.

Pushing aside the thought of a raptor attack, James smiled at the sight of his home away from home. It was small with an eight foot tall wooden wall made of tree trunks with the tops sharpened into points mainly to keep marauding carnotaurus at bay. Stopping at the wooden gate, he lifted the wooden barricade bar from the massive doors and opened them. Looking back at the people, he motioned with his head to follow him.

Glancing at each other, they reluctantly followed.

XXX

"Damn. This guy built all of this?" Saeko muttered somewhat impressed at the architecture of the small base. The house itself was small, but could easily hold several people. It had a small counter at the far end of the room with shelves filled with waterskins and fruit. Then there was the living room they were sitting in right now and a hand crafted dinner table with eight chairs. Two doors were located at the other end of the room, most likely the bedrooms.

"Yea, but the better question is who _is_ this guy?" Takagi whispered, tossing a stare at the young man as he pulled of a leather rucksack from his back and sat it on a small wooden table. "Hey, who are you?"

The young man froze, slowly turning to them. "My name is James Steel. And might I ask what a group of Japanese people are doing in a place such as this?"

"I'll say, just where the hell are we?" Rei questioned, seating herself at the table with the others.

James snorted, pulling out a bloody rolled up blanket of hide and setting it on the bar before pulling out a massive chunk of flesh and walking outside. "You're on Ark."

"Ark?" Takagi repeated, confused and intrigued. Staring after him through the open doorway the girl asked, "Where the hell is that? In the Pacific?"

"Beat's me glasses. All I know is it's a place inhabited by dinosaurs, tribesmen and other things." James answered, stabbing the meat onto a wooden spit and placing it over the fire. Dusting his hands off on his dried bloody jeans, he heading back inside.

"So wait," Shizuka halted, gaining everybody's undivided attention. "So we've been like sent back in time or something like that?"

"No, you were transported here by the ARK," James corrected, taking a seat at the table next to Rei. "Do any of you remember a big floating iron A with three glowing lights at the ends?"

"Yea," Takashi nodded. "In fact, we were on a ship in the middle of the ocean when that ARK thingy rose up out of the water and we began to gravitate towards it, then nothing. Next thing we know is we're on a beach and getting attacked by that dinosaur, than you saved us and led us here. Thanks by the way, for saving us."

"Yes, thank you. We owe you our lives," Saeko bowed her head in a polite manner followed by Rei, Alice and Shizuka. Takagi simply glanced to the side and muttered an inaudible thanks while Kohta scratched the back of his head and talked about how he pulled a Turok move on the Carnotaurus.

"No problem. Happy to help my fellow castaways," James smiled, waving off their thanks. "So, what's happening back in our world? Everything still as dull as ever?"

The air quickly grew thick with tension as everybody either looked down or at James in surprise. "You mean you don't know what's happened?" Rei asked, a little shocked.

James shook his head, "No, should I?"

Looking at each other and remaining quiet for a few moments to recall the gruesome events that unfolded during their travels, everybody slowly explained to James just what exactly _happened_ back at home.

"Wait, so you mean to tell me that... zombies... have taken over the world?" James questioned, deadpanning at the group.

Takashi nodded grimly, "I'm sorry."

"Ok."

Everybody froze.

"Ok? Ok?" Takagi echoed, shocked by his simple answer. "You're not... shocked, surprised, angered? Not even a little bit overwhelmed?"

"Well, a little bit but now that I heard about what's going on back at home, now I don't what to head back home." James said, waving off Takagi's surprise. "And besides, do _you_ want to go back? To that?"

Takagi opened her mouth to fire off a snarky remark, but then thought long and hard. They all thought long and hard.

"Seriously, the only things you have to worry about here are dinosaurs, tribes, and giant insects. Compared to walking corpses, I think you might like this place better," James added, sounding as if he was trying persuade them to stay.

"Yea, almost like a vacation!" Alice piped up with Zeke clutched in her arms.

"Yea, just like a vacation." James agreed, smiling down at the young girl.

"Jesus, how long has this guy been alone?" Takagi muttered to the others who only smiled at the young woman uneasily.

After having a moment to collect their thoughts, Takashi was the first to speak. "We can't."

"Hmm? Why not?" James asked, a little surprised by the young man's decline to stay.

"Because we have family that need us," Takashi answered, turning towards Rei. "Rei's mother and father must be worried about her and my mom too. We left them behind in Tokonosu port when that boat departed to take us to a safe place."

Rei gave Takashi a small smile but frowned as James chuckled dryly. "Sorry to break it to you guys but there's no way off this island."

"Then _how_ do we get off this island?" Saeko questioned sternly, crossing her arms.

James frowned his eyebrows and gave the raven haired swordswomen a firm stare. "If I knew I would have left a long time ago."

"So you mean; you don't know how to get off the island." Rei said gaining an acknowledging nod from James.

"Yes. Look if I knew, I'd help you but right now I'm afraid getting off of Ark is the least of your problems," he replied.

"James-san is right," Kohta nodded, gulping as he remembered nearly getting eaten by the Carnotaurus. "Who knows what else could be out there."

James got up from his seat and grabbed a waterskin from one of the overhanging shelves, taking a swig before adding. "Well, you got Tyrannosaurus Rex, Spinosaurus, Sarcosuchus, Utahraptor, Sabretooth Tiger and..." he paused as Takagi grew a tick mark on her forehead, interrupting him from answering Kohta's rhetorical question.

"Ok dino genius we get it!" she said. "There's a lot of dangerous shit outside this place!"

"Speaking of which," Rei quirked. "James-san, did you build this place all by yourself?"

James smiled proudly, "Yep, took me 2 months and fending off a lot of Raptors but I got the job done. Wanna see upstairs? I've got a crow's nest for keeping watch."

"Sure. We'd love to see your home," Shizuka giggled, getting up from her seat. As everyone began to follow him to the door leading up, they all froze as a low hiss came from behind said door. It was a sound that merely made James roll his eyes, but for the others, they could only widen their eyes in alarm.

"What the fuck is that?!" Rei questioned fearfully, taking a couple steps back from the door.

"Oh, its nothing. Just my friend Spit."

"Friend?" They all repeated, watching as he opened the door to allow the little monster hiding behind it to be unleashed.

The little Dilophosaur erupted out of the doorway, his bright yellow frill was unfurled and his fangs bared as he barked and hissed at the group of strangers inside his house. Takagi squealed like a little girl and hid behind a trembling Kohta, who grabbed a chair and pointed it at the vicious little dinosaur.

"What the fuck is that thing?!"

"This is Spit. My little friend," James answered simply, Watching the group of survivors begin to promptly freak out at the aggressive behavior of the little Dilo.

"Dude, call off your dinosaur man!" Takashi shouted, jumping back as the Spit snapped his jaws at his feet.

"Spit! Back off!" James said firmly.

The little dinosaur glanced back at his master, cocking his head, a puzzled expression on his snout.

"Their friends. Not enemies," James explained, prompting the little dinosaur to thrash his tail in annoyance. Spit then looked down as Zeke, the little dog, came creeping up to the much larger dinosaur. His nose stuck forward to sniff the new arrival.

"Zeke, be nice," Alice warned cautiously.

"Same goes for you, Spit." James warned as well. Keeping a wary eye on the little Dilo.

The two creatures began to sniff each other. Spit sniffed Zeke's leg and Zeke sniffed Spits neck. Finally, after a moment to get to know each other, Zeke barked and got into a playful fighting stance, his tail wagging behind him.

Spit followed his lead and flopped down onto the ground, pinning the smaller animal under his girth. The others just smiled as the two animals began to play.

"Wow, I really didn't expect Spit to except him so quickly," James said, scratching the back of his head. "Or you guys for that matter."

Rei frowned at the young man, pouting, "You didn't tell us you had a pet attack dino!"

"Well it slipped my mind seeing as I have guest to attend too," James said, defending himself.

"Is there anything else we need to worry about attacking us?" Takagi growled, eyeing Spit cautiously from behind Kohta.

"Oh, you might mind the T-rex I have chained out back," James retorted sarcastically, making his way up the stairs.

The others chuckled at his remark, but Kohta and Takagi sweat-dropped. "You're kidding, right?"

XXX

A few hours had passed as James showed the others around, and prepared dinner for them. The place itself was easily large enough to house all 9 of them, including the animals.

After putting the gate barricade up, James returned back inside to see the others sitting at the table with serene expressions and bulging bellies.

"Ha, that was great!" Shizuka sighed.

"Yea, you sure know how to cook some meat." Rei complimented, resting her chin on the table, closing her eyes.

James smiled, shutting the door behind him, "When you're stranded upon a primitive dinosaur infested island you learn a few things."

"Well, you're a great cook to say the least. But next time, allow me to assist you," Saeko said, smiling confidently. "I know some recipes that'll knock your socks off."

"I'll take you up on that offer," James chuckled, sitting down at the table. Looking down beside his feet he saw Spit dozing off, purring in content.

After a moment of silence had passed, Takashi finally sighed, breaking the silence, "James-san, can I- no we- ask you something?"

"Sure, what's up?"

Takashi remained silent and stared down at his empty plate before focusing on James with determined eyes. "Is it alright if we stayed here with you? Just until we can figure out how to get off this island and back to our parents."

"What the hell kind of question is that? Of course you can stay!" James answered, grinning. "What, did you think I would throw you guys out into the jungle to die? After I show you around and feed you."

"You're sure? We hope we're not asking too much," Saeko asked.

"Not at all. You can stay here until we find you guys a way back to Zombieland," James said, waving off her unsure question.

Hearing a caw out in the distance made James lift his head, and stare out the thatch window into the distance. The sky was set ablaze by the stars dotting the night sky. He narrowed his eyes. "Raptors are out hunting. Stay inside and do not leave the base under any circumstances. The scaly bastards know not to cross my territory so you should be safe inside the yard."

Everyone nodded.

"Alright, good night then." James yawned, beckoning Spit to follow who waddled sluggishly after his master.

Once everyone had been settle into their rooms, James stifled a weary sigh. He flopped down onto his straw bed blanketed by a thin sheet of Sabretooth hide. Spit scrambled onto the bed, nestling himself at James's side. James couldn't help but smile down at his slumbering friend. Spit has been his one and only friend ever since he arrived on this island. Helping him hunt and defend his home.

James lifted his head and gazed out his bedroom window, staring up at the full moon shining in.

Now, he had some new friends. Ones he could count on to help better understand this place. He was all too familiar about how it feels to be stranded in a foreign place without an idea about how to survive in such a harsh and hostile world.

But one thing percolated in his mind that night as he slowly began to drift to sleep. These people, they didn't have a crystal embedded in their arms. He realized this while he was showing them around, taking care to investigate each and every one of theirs arms from a distance.

Just what exactly does this place have instore for him?

There you have it. Review what you think so far. Idea's for the future and most importantly, pairings. Seeya!


	3. Chapter 2

Hello and what is goin on, just wanted to add that this is my first fanfic and most likely not the best. Possibly not even close to being acceptable but I'm trying here. As usual, review if you like and comment me on pairings. Again, not a big deal and most likely I'll look back on previous chapters and add on to them and improve them.

Another thing, got the first pairing request! A SAEKO X TAKASHI, eh. Ok, that's 1 but what about James? No love for our castaway friend? Remember what happened to Tom Hanks? His best friend was a freaking Vollyball with a face drawn on it!

James: Fuck you dude! I ain't gonna go crazy and start talking to inanimate object.

Me: Yea because you have a pet dinosaur and now a group of sexy ladies. Ooh la la!

James: You kidding me? Those chicks are crazy!

Me: How so?

James: Must I point it out?

Me: Do enlighten me.

James: Dude, all these girls pretty much have the power to kill us all! You got a sword wielding samurai, a spear wielding amazon warrior, a pink haired genius who could destroy the entire world if she wanted too, a blonde bimbo who due to being a doctor knows ALL about what stuff is poisonous enough to kill us with leaving a trace within our bodies.

Me: Oh dear god! Your right!... Sorry about your luck.

James: Yea whatev's... these girls are scary enough to make a Rex shit himself.

Me: Ok well good luck.

Later peeps!

Don't own Ark or HOTD

 **Updated: 9/21/15**

 **Special Thanks to Draco38 as my beta reader**

* * *

Chapter 2 Raptors

The content songs of the birds were what James awoke too. Another restless night, again.

James stifled a weary sigh, rubbing his heavy eyelids. "Damn Raptors kept me up all night," he grumbled, glancing out his bedroom window which lacked glass and allowed all manner of bugs and birds inside. Well, what could survive Spit's nimble jaws that is. It was morning, mid-morning from what he could gather judging by the brightness of the sun and its position in the sky.

When it was located to the left, it was morning. When it was hovering high in the center of the sky, it was in the afternoon and when it falls to the right it was the evening.

And now that it was morning, it was time to get out of the house. As usual, he would do his daily inventory check to ensure his supplies wouldn't run low. Run low on anything around here would mean certain death, that's how harsh life was on ARK.

Stepping outside his room, James ears perked up to the sounds of chatter down stairs and walked down to find everyone gathered in the dining room.

"Morning," James grunted, walking over to bar counter sectioning off the kitchen from the living room.

"Oh, James you're up early." Shizuka commented, cocking her head questioningly as he began to ramble off random numbers. "Uhh, what are you doing?"

"Doing an inventory check," James answered, not even pausing his quiet run through. Once he counted the waterskins and sorted out the full from the empty ones, he moved on to the storage chest lined up against the between the bar and the shelves. Opening it, he counted the number of hides and meat.

"Well your pretty well organized I see," Saeko smirked watching James shuffle past them and out the door into the yard.

Moving around the house whilst keeping a wary eye on the forts wooden walls, James walked over to his hand built thatch storage shed where he kept an excess amount of wood and other materials on standby in case he had to make any rush repairs.

"Ok, from the looks of it we're gonna need more meat that's for sure. In fact, that's an understatement," James muttered, walking back around the house. "And it looks like I'm gonna have to make a run down to the river to refill a few of my waterskins. The wood and thatch supplies are in good shape. Hell, I could build another structure with the materials I have stored here."

Walking through the front door, James nearly tripped over an excited Spit and Zeke as they hastily chased after a discarded stick that had been tossed over his head and out the door behind him. "Good boy, Spit-chan! Now bring it back!" Alice called, obviously enjoying herself as she watched the obedient little Dilo trot back with the stick clamped between his jaws and a slightly agitated Zeke who held onto the other end of the stick with his teeth.

James held a small smile as he watched Spit interact with Alice and Zeke. The little girl seemed so happy, giggling and running past him into the front yard with Zeke and Spit hot on her heels waiting for her to throw the stick once more.

"Looks like Spits taken quite a liking to Alice," James chuckled, watching as Alice told both Spit and Zeke to lay down. Receiving only an obedient action from Spit while Zeke just cocked his head at Alice and waited patiently for her to toss the stick again.

"Yea, it's kinda cute isn't it?" Rei smiled, watching the three of them play.

Takagi, however, crossed her arms, a look of concern on her face, "I wouldn't trust the little beast. We don't know if he'll get hungry and decide to eat her... or Zeke."

"Spit wouldn't harm her or Zeke," James assured, watching as Alice breezed by the front door while riding on Spits back with Zeke riding shotgun and by shotgun it was more like holding on for dear life. "The neighboring tribes populating Ark have been known to house carnivores and herbivores together and they manage to keep them from eating each other. It's all about how you train them."

Kohta pipped his head up in interest, turning his attention away from a bowl of berries he had found in the pantry beside the waterskins. "Wait, so we're not the only ones on this island."

"Nope buddy and that's a bowl of Narcoberries you're eating." James pointed out.

Kohta glanced down at the bowl of deep blue berries, obviously clueless to what James was trying to explain. That is, until he turned pale and fell backwards in his chair onto the floor.

"Uhh, is he going to be ok?" Takagi asked with a hint of concern in her voice.

"Yea, he'll be fine. Just knocked out cold for a couple of hours," James replied, kneeling down on the floor to pick up the spilt bowl of berries. "By the way, that pantry over there by the waterskins is my medicine cabinet. The stuff in there is for emergency use only. Such as these Narcoberries."

"Why on earth would you need these things?" Rei questioned, helping him pick up the berries off the floor while Shizuka and Takagi struggled to carry Kohta towards the stairs in order to take the unconscious boy to his room.

"Mainly to help me sleep, but I can also use them to subdue dinosaurs to capture and tame them." James explained letting Rei put her hand full of berries into the stone bowl before returning them to the cabinet. "It's a little trick the tribe that I stayed with taught me when I was stranded here. I stayed with them for about a year before I finally went out on my own and built my own place."

"They must have taught you a lot, huh?" Saeko said a little intrigued at the mention of the tribe.

"Tons. They taught me how to build foundations from raw materials and how to make simple drugs like Narcotics in order to subdue animals without harming them. I caught Spit over there straight from the wild and tamed him myself while I was staying with the tribe. They taught me how to have him obey commands and even preform simple tasks such as carrying supplies or harvesting materials."

"Wow. These guys sound crazy smart in order to teach you all that." Takashi commented, a little awe struck at the sound of the tribes. "And they tame dinosaurs like Spit all the time?"

"Oh no. Those guys are in the big leagues," James shook his head, doing a head count in his medicine cabinet seeing as Kohta had poked around inside. "They got T-rexes that'll eat out of the palm of your hand and have Utahraptors as attack dogs. They got all kinds of dinosaurs they utilize for different purposes such as fighting, hunting or gathering. Around here it isn't physical power that gets you through the day, it's how much supplies you have at your disposal. Since the tribe that taught me lived in the neighboring northern mountains nearby, they have a near unlimited supply of metal ore and stone at their disposal allowing them to create more secure structures that can house the more dangerous animals of the island. A wooden fence isn't exactly going to keep in a Rex once it gets hungry."

"Wow, that's amazing," Saeko whispered, mystified by the power this tribe possessed. "And they taught all of this too you willingly."

James scratched his head, chuckling sheepishly, "Eh, yes and no. They captured me at first believing I was an enemy tribe member until they saw this." he extended his left arms, showing them the crystal embedded in his wrist.

"Holy crap! How the hell did you get that?" Rei exclaimed, lightly pressing a finger against the crystal.

"Dunno. It was embedded in my arm when I woke up on the beach the same way you guys did," James replied, letting Saeko and Takashi see next. "But it doesn't seem you guys have one though. Strange."

"So the tribesmen saw this thing in your arm and must have seen you as some deity of some sorts?" Rei kept her eyes trained on the diamond shaped gem as James nodded.

"Pretty much. They called me the Enlightened. Saying that only I and a few other chosen ones could unlock the chests of the gods which are those floating crystals in the sky called Beacons."

"Man, this place is very complex to say the least," Takashi commented, sweatdropping a little as he tried to process all this information.

"That's Ark for you," James chuckled, walking past them to the door just opposite to the staircase. "I'm about to go out to find more food. If you guys wanna tag along, feel free."

"Alright, sounds good. I can't wait to explore this place," Rei commented with a smile, taking up his offer.

"Might as well get a better feel of our surrounds wouldn't you say, Takashi-kun," Saeko crooned in an affectionate manner that made Takashi's light up bright pink and fire to form in the background behind Rei.

"Ahhh, he's so heavy!" a voice squeaked revealed to be Shizuka as she and Takagi were still struggling to lift him up just one step.

"You'd think fat ass here would lay off the Twinkies!" Takagi growled, holding Kohta up by his legs while Shizuka had him by the arms. But try as they might, they couldn't get him up the stairs. "Geez, this guy weighs like a ton!"

"What's going on in here?"

The room went dead silent as James stepped out of the armory wearing nothing but boxers, revealing his well-toned body to the entire world as he turned over to Shizuka and Takagi who all but dropped Hirano on the floor due to a mixture of sheer shock and his weight.

"You guys having trouble with him?"

Takagi could only babble unintelligently as her face lit up at the sight of his toned chest and 6 pack. Watching him step through the doorway and scoop Kohta up off the floor as if he were picking up an empty cardboard box. She gulped at the sight if his broad shoulders, well-defined chest, chiseled abs, and toned biceps trailing down his lean body.

"You ladies take a break for a minute. I'll put big guy here to bed while me, Takashi, Rei and Saeko head out. You can look after Chuckles and Alice while were gone," James smirked, making his way up the steps with Shizuka and Takagi gawking right after him.

"Oh, nice ass…" Shizuka muttered, staring after his retreating form with peaked interest

"Miss Shizuka!" Takagi exclaimed prompting the busty nurse to burst into a giggling fit.

"Did- did we just see Samson walk through our friends living room?" Rei sweatdropped, staring into the empty doorway with a dazzled stare.

"I believe so," Saeko nodded, her cheeks a little shade of red as she recalled his bare chest.

Takashi's eye twitched, damn what was this guy on? Steroids? But, then again, fighting off dinosaurs' everyday can give a guy a hell of a workout.

XXX

After James carried Kohta to his room and placed him on the bed, he left the unconscious otaku to quietly babble in his sleep as he headed back down stairs and into the armory. Completely oblivious to the girls staring and Takashi's slightly annoyed expression.

Even though he had an armory, it wasn't exactly what one would have in mind. The only thing that could be found in the room was a small weapons rack that held his bow, a hide quiver full of arrows, his spear, a stone hatchet, a stone hammer and a stone pickaxe. His leather armor was sitting on a table next to the rack in a neat stack as his leather vest set atop his greaves and gauntlets along with his boots which were set to the side beside his armor.

Once he was equipped, James exited the armory and turned to Takashi, Rei and Saeko who were waiting patiently for him at the door.

"Alright, you ready?"

"Yes, but we don't have anything to fight with." Takashi said in realization. Remembering how they had left all of their thinks back on the ship when they were abducted.

"My sword…" Saeko whispered as she clenched her hands to her chest.

"Don't worry," James assured, winking at the boy. "I can fix that."

Stepping back into the armory, James gathered up his remaining weapons and stepped back out, handing one to each of them.

"Here, Takashi," He handed him the stone hatchet.

Takashi investigated the handcrafted weapon closely, flipping it over to get a better look at the craftsmanship. "Not bad man," he complimented.

Leaving Takashi to try out his new weapon, James moved onto Rei next. Pulling his spear from its hilt on his back and handing it to her, "You know how to use this? Right?"

Rei stared at her new weapon for a moment before smirking and giving it a quick twirl as if it were a baton, "I was in the Spear Martial Arts Club so I'm pretty well acquainted with this weapon."

"Ok then," James smiled. Moving onto Saeko next, handing her the pickaxe. This action, however, made her deadpan. "Seriously?" she asked, sounding somewhat offended by his action.

"Look, this and the other weapons I just gave you guys are all I got and I'm already taking my bow and club along with me. And trust me, that pick right there can make short work of a raptor. Trust me," James assured.

Saeko stifled a heavy slightly disappointed sigh "Guess we'll just have to make do then."

Smiling sheepishly at the swordswoman, James made his way to the front gate with Shizuka and Takagi right behind him and the others. "Nothing should bother you as long as you stay inside the perimeter. I have a barricade bar on the other side of the gate so you won't have to put it back up once we leave," James explained, pausing at the entrance to allow Rei, Takashi and Saeko to walk past him outside. "Do not leave the base under any circumstances and keep an eye on Alice while she's playing outside. Lots of big flying dinos about during the early morning, but they shouldn't bother you since we're in the cover of the trees."

Takagi and Shizuka grimaced at the thought of a giant winged monster attacking them and abducting Alice, but none the less nodded.

Returning their nods, James closed the gate behind him and placed the barricade bar up, keeping the others in and everything else out.

"Ok." James turned to the others, seriousness written across his face. "Let's go. Stay close and don't wonder off or make too much noise. Raptors inhabiting this area are most active around this hour of the day."

They nodded in acknowledgement. Keeping their eyes trained on the brush around them as they made their way down the beaten path. They walked for about an hour before they found themselves in the middle of an open meadow filled with grazing dinosaurs. Triceratops, Stegosaurus, a few stray Phiomia, a herd of Gallimimus and even a couple of Mammoths could be seen moping around the clearing. None even payed the group of humans a thought as they crept along the tall grass.

"Ok, time for your first hunting lesson," James began, remaining low to the ground. Turning to the others, he made a small crud drawing of the clearing in the dirt. Drawing a series of X's sketched close together in the center along with four other smaller X's over on the far side, borderlined along with the grass.

"This is us," James pointed out, tapping his finger on the four X's on the edge of the dirt drawing. "Our goal is to snag just one of those Gallimimus over there pecking around in the center of the clearing."

"So what's the plan?" Saeko grunted, pulling the grass away to get a better look at the herd. "The big ones with horns won't be too pleased with us for hunting their comrades."

"The plan is this." James shifted his gaze to a section of the clearing that had a massive path way beaten through it by the wandering herds entering and exiting the clearing. "I'll draw the Trikes attention and herd them down that path. Takashi, once the larger dinosaurs are out of the way I want you and the girls to herd the Gallies back the way we came and there I'll hook a U turn back to you guys and move in for the kill."

Takashi and Saeko nodded in acknowledgement, moving to their positions close to the clearing exit. Rei, however, stared over at James in concern.

"Uhh, are you sure this is a good idea. I mean, didn't you say we shouldn't split up."

James readied an arrow as he stood up from his hiding place. Grinning like a maniac as he hollered, "Unless you feel like doing the fun part then feel free to tag along!"

Rei sweatdropped, watching the half crazy young man sprint straight towards the herd of grazing animals with an arrow at the ready. "Unless you call running for your life fun?!"

Running up to the group of Trike conjugated together with the Mammoth and Stegos, James drew his pull string back, setting his sights directly on the Trike shuffling around at the back of the herd closest to the Gallimimus's. Startling it would cause chaos amongst the herd and would scare the ostrich-like dinosaur away from the rest of the herd due to their skittish nature around larger creatures.

Narrowing his eyes, he released his bow string, letting the arrow fly forward through the herd startling a passing Mammoth as it breezed by its legs. The arrow slammed into the Trikes side, causing the creature to bellow in pain and terror and kick his hind legs out in an attempt to buck off the arrow embedded in its side.

It was just as he thought, once one creature begins to panic, the rest of the herd follows. James watched as the other members of the herd lifted their heads in alarm and witness the Gallimimus flock screech fearfully and sidestep out of the creatures way as they made their way to the other end of the clearing. The other members of the herd quickly joining in with the injured Trikes fearful roaring as it plowed through the other members of its herd.

Straight towards James.

"Hehe! Here we go!" James grinned. Sheathing his bow and making a mad dash towards the massive open pathway leading into the jungle where Takashi, Saeko and Rei were hunkered down. Waiting for him to lead the other creatures away from the Gallimimus herd.

"Is he- is he laughing?!" Saeko sweatdropped watching James laughing his socks off while he was being chased by the stampeding herd of Trikes, Stegos and Mammoths.

Takashi chuckled nervously as the ground began to shake violently with the incoming wave of panicked dinosaurs with one crazy young human leading the charge laughing like a lunatic came barreling straight towards them. "He kind of reminds me of Wakko from the Animaniacs."

"WAHWHOOOO!" yelled James as he whooshed past the three young teens. With a league of Trikes, Stegos, Mammoths, and Phiomia right behind him kicking up a storm of dirt.

"Kami!" Saeko coughed, waving away the dust cloud. "Is he insane?"

After watching James took a hard right and ran up a fallen log leaning against another tree, and jump onto the back of the Trike leading the charge, Takashi chuckled nervously. "Guess that answers your question." Composing himself, he turned towards the Gallimimus herd watching them shuffling nervously as they met his gaze. "Let's lead these guys back to the camp and meet back up with James."

The girls nodded in acknowledgement and followed Takashi as he stalked closer towards the herd of skittish herbivores. Rei stopped and glanced back at the path James had led the herd of panicked herbivores down. "Geez he's crazy..." she muttered, shaking her head before returning back to the task at hand.

XXX

"YA! GITTY UP LITTLE DOGIE!" James hooted and hollered, whipping the flanks of the Trike he was riding with his bow. Feeling like he was cowboy in a western film urging his horse to go faster.

Except this wasn't a western film and he wasn't riding a horse. He was on a primitive island lost in time and was riding a 10 ton three horned beast followed by a horde of panicked prehistoric creatures.

Not exactly something a sane person would do. But then again, James knew he was a little crazy. Because seriously, aren't we all a little crazy in the end.

James laughed and cackled like a crazed lunatic while he held onto the Trike's bony frill, all the while glancing behind him at the tailing herd to make sure none of them peeled off into another direction. That would then, in turn, coax the Trike he was currently riding on to take a scenic route after the rest of his herd.

Luckily, the herd was following his mount. Right about now, by his nutty calculations, he was northeastern part of the island, about 14 or so miles away from his base, and around 5 miles from the hunting trail where Takashi and company were herding the Gallimimus herd.

Currently, James was riding along the bank of a running river. He smiled down at his speeding reflection in the water as he watched a school of Coelacanth race alongside him within the waters depths, quickly disappearing beneath the roaring rapids as the river hit a run off point.

"Alright," James said suddenly, startling the trike even further as he glanced around the creatures sides in a quizzical manner. "How do I stop this thing?"

He chuckled as he continued to try and figure out a way to stop this creature. Finding it mildly amusing that he had jumped on a random wild animal without any concern of his own safety. Then his amusement ended as he caught sight of a potential hazard ahead of him.

"Uh oh..." James trailed of, deadpanning at the upcoming cliff alongside a roaring water fall. He witnessed the school of Coelacanths he had seen just moments ago erupted out of the roaring rapids, gasping for breath as they fell a hundred feet or so down the falls and splatted onto the jagged rocks waiting below.

"Oh shit!" James yelped, tugging on the Trikes bony frill in an attempt to stop the stampeding beast. "Heel boy! Stop! Go the other way!" He gasped as the cliff edge slowly grew closer and closer. Standing up on the Trikes back, James made a comical attempt to stop the trailing herd of startled herbivores in a method similar to flagging. "Go that way, dumbasses! That way!" James yelled, motioning his arms to the left into the safety of the jungle.

"Ah crap!"

James frowned and glanced back to the front of the Trike as the beast suddenly hit the brakes and began to skitter to a halt. Kicking up loose dirt and rock beneath its feet as it slid dangerously close to the cliffs edge.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" James yelled, smashing his eyes shut as he prepared to feel the roar of the wind in his ears as he plummeted to his doom. Cringing on top of the frozen Trikes neck, James peeked his eye open questioningly and glanced around. He wasn't falling.

"Whow!" James sighed, relaxing. "Man, that was a close one."

Peeking over the panting Trikes spikey frill, he widened his eyes at the sight of the sheer drop waiting for him below.

"Holy shit..." James breathed, sweating bullets alongside the Trike, who stared down the cliff side in a comical manner, as a small chunk of the cliff rock below the Trikes feet gave way and plummeted into the murky roaring waters below, giving off an almost inaudible _ploop_ as it landing into the rushing waters several hundreds of feet below.

"Ok... let's just get of this Trike and-" he cut off as the ground suddenly began to shake violently. Whirling his head around, along with the startled Trike, James screamed at the sight of the sight of the incoming stamped of panicked Trikes, Stegos, and Mammoths with a few Phiomia tailing behind the rest of the herd.

"Oh you've got to be fucking kidding me!" James screamed, scrambling to get off the Trike. Before he could, a frantic Mammoth slammed directly into the backside of the animal he was riding, sending the both of them over the edge and down to the roaring river below, as the entire herd came pouring over the side of the cliff behind them. Not even stopping after the first couple of Mammoths and Trikes fell over the edge. James, with a deadpan expression on his face, blinked a couple of times as he fell past a flailing mammoth trumpeting in terror. Looking up at the passing Mammoth, James lifted his shoulders and looked back down only to exclaim out loud and twist out of the way of a thrashing Stego's tail before plunging into the roaring rapids of the waiting river below.

Hearing the roar of the current in his submerged ears and seeing numerous dinosaurs plunge below the water's surface around him, James gurgled a stream of inaudible curse words that only left his mouth in a school of air bubbles. Glancing up at the twinkling surface of the water, James held in a suppressed yell, knowing it would deprive him of what little oxygen he already had, and scrambled to swim out of the way of a falling Mammoth that slammed into the water with enough force to create a large tidal wave.

"Son of a b-!" James gasped, becoming caught up in the wave before he was once again submerged beneath the fairly clear waters.

This was just one of those days. The days where you just absolutely, one hundred percent, fuck up a simple task that quickly turns into a life or death situation. That's Ark for you. Or just the stupidity of the islands native creatures, but then again, James did ask for it, as usual.

Hell, this was almost as bad as the time he pissed off a trio of Allosaurus, and _that_ was a hell of a situation he had gotten himself into. He has pissed off hungry predators, lumbering herbivores and even the Arks native tribal bandits at one time. But falling off a cliff with a herd full of stampeding Mammoths and Trikes, that was a first.

Paddling underneath a swimming Trike, James glanced around the seemingly tranquil waters and was quite surprised when he realized the waters themselves weren't all that forceful. He wasn't even being pushed back in the slightest by the flowing current. Hell, even the animals all around him weren't having all that much trouble swimming along the water's surface. Maybe it was just the way the current looked from high up in the air?

Shaking off the puzzling biology of the river, James paddled up to the water's surface, breaching with a loud gasp. "Holy crap!" he exclaimed, taking another gulp of air. He glanced around as he took notice to the paddling creatures heading over towards a nearby shoreline with a small patch of sand laid out in front of a line of jungle palms.

"Damn, now I'm gonna have to make my way down the river and then make my way back!" James muttered breathlessly, still winded from having stayed submerged underwater for so long.

Hovering along the surface of the water, James was oblivious to the frantic struggling of a nearby Phiomia as it struggled to keep its head above water. Suddenly, the thrashing beast gave out a terrified scream before vanishing below the water's surface.

James spun around and searched the churning waters for whatever could have caused such a scream. Raising his eyebrows urgently as a nearby Trike bellowed in pain and fear before being violently jerked beneath the water's surface.

Several creatures began to disappear underwater, each of them giving a startled cry before disappearing underneath the surface. While James quickly began to search around him for whatever was yanking the surrounding dinosaurs under, he was completely unaware as a long thick scaly green tail slowly rose up out of the depths and came down on him with a loud _slap!_ Water roared in his ears as he was forced back under the water, his entire watery world was sent spiraling out of control, as bubbles whooshed and hissed in his ears while he tried to make sense of what just happened.

James drifted along, visibly shaken and dazed from the sheer weight and force of whatever creature's tail came down straight on his head. Hell, he was slightly surprised he survived whatever hit him.

Shaking his head to make everything stop spinning, he weakly blinked a couple of times before widening his eyes.

All around him, beneath the water's surface in a completely different world, he could see giant crocodiles of almost impossible size tearing into the flailing bodies of several dinosaurs they had captured. Completely ignoring the frantic swimming of the remain few dinosaurs swimming above them, including the sopping wet mess of a passing Mammoth as it kicked over James head, Narrowly missing him with its gargantuan sized feet as it made a panicked bee-line to the shore.

The creatures around him were very familiar, but not once during his time on the island had he _ever_ got this close to the beasties before. The monsters were known as Sarcosuchus, and were by all means one of the biggest water based threats of the island. It was a very large species of crocodile, exceeding lengths of forty five feet, much larger than your everyday Wally Gator. Their skulls were massive for their size, of which ended in a large bulbous nose lined with spiky "teeth" and a small horn on each side of their nostrils. They're greenish-brown scales shone dully against the dim light of the mid-day sun beneath the water's surface as they proceeded to tear into their meals, filling the waters around them with a thick red cloud of blood. Their long powerful tails thrashed about from within the blood storm as they tore into each of their catches, sending waves of red over to James direction.

 _'Bleck, disgusting!'_ he waved the dark cloud of red away in disgust, closing his eyes to avoid getting an eye full. Once he believed the cloud had cleared, James slowly opened his eyes only to widen them in alarm as an incoming Sarco propelled through the water towards him at break neck speed, its massive jaws opened wide to snag him out of the water.

Reacting on pure instinct, James jerked his body to the left, narrowly avoiding the creature's jaws which came down with a sickening muffled snap. The creatures sped past him, shaking its head in frustration and thrashing its tail in a swift motion to gain more speed in its turn, sending James tumbling away from the toothy beast and closer to the safety of the shore.

Glancing back at the slanting hill of sand leading up to the shore, James broke out into a sudden burst of speed and kicked his legs to gain even more speed. He would occasionally looked back behind him as the tailing Sarco would give off a guttural growl as it neared ever so quickly. Opening its massive jaws wide to give the killing bite.

Putting more power into his strokes, James felt a sudden exhilarating wave of familiar energy come over him as he kicked into overdrive. His adrenaline rich muscles helped him quickly close the distance between him and the shore as he scrambled onto the sandy beach. Taking in a mouth full of air as he booked it out of the shallows, and narrowly dodging out of the way of the monster's toothy maw which snapped after him in a blind attempt to grab him.

The Sarco hissed angrily and glared after its retreating quarry as the young man high tailed it into the jungle, disappearing into the ferns without as much as a backwards glance. Dissatisfied that its prey escaped its hungry jaws, the Sarco slowly slipped back beneath the water's surface. Keeping its angry glare held on the twitching jungle ferns as its vision was slowly over taken by the waves of the river.

XXX

James panted heavily as he continued to book it through the thick bush of the jungle. Jumping over a low hanging fallen log lying slanted up against a small boulder. He was running on the last of his adrenaline reserves, and would soon have to push himself to make it back in time to help Takashi and the girls with the Gallies AND make it back another 8 miles back to base whilst carrying a bag full of meat through carnivore infested territory.

Upon scrambling over the face of a smooth reddish brown rock, James huffed and puffed in fatigue. Taking in gulps of air, he leaned up against the rather smooth bumpy rock.

"Son-Pa- of a- GA- Bitch!" James gasped, swallowing hard before exhaling a shaky sigh and resting his back up against the shifting rock. Feeling it lift and fall almost as if it were breathing. James closed his eyes as he let his head fall back against the side of the boulder, still panting heavily as he fought to catch his breath.

Then, he noticed something a wee bit... off.

He opened his eyes questioningly, feeling the lack of energy all but disappear as the slightly concerning question popped up in the back of his head as he heard a low hiss like snore. Why was the rock breathing?

Turning his head to the right slowly, James widened his eyes and gulped. Lying literally right behind him, snoring away in its peaceful slumber, was an exceptionally large Tyrannosaurus snoozing the day away. The creature was absolutely massive! James just barely came past its stomach line, which separated its reddish brown osteodermia hide from its smooth crème colored belly. Along the neck and back of the creature, was a large ridge of hard bony plates that was obviously used to protect their vertebrae from the maws of other carnivores, which only added to the Rexes deadliness aside from the sheer power they possess in their jaws and muscles. The Rexes were known to contend with the islands larger dinosaurs in violent fights over territory and food. The other mega carnivores, such the Giganotosaurus and Allosaurus with the latter being only a few feet smaller than a regular T-rex.

These fights often ended violently but Rexes, no matter how big the opponent, would never back down. This is what made T-rex so sought after amongst Arks warring tribes. Their undying loyalty was one to admire, often putting themselves in the sight of a larger predator to protect their masters, and their sheer strength was inhuman. Rexes were known to be capable of lifting a creature twice their size and tossing it about with their large powerful jaws and heads, making them one of the most deadly creatures on the island just with its size and strength alone.

But, unfortunately, _this_ Rex was not tamed. It was wild and would most likely be hungry once it awoke from its deep slumber.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, James expelled a shaky sigh as he glanced down at the ground and took slow easy steps away from the snoozing beast. Taking care not to step on a random twig, he slowly neared its long curled tail which was tucked closely to its ridiculously tiny but muscular arms that sported two clawed fingers. Luckily the patch of ground he was on bore no fallen leaves, which was usually a dead giveaway when something was nearby, only having a fairly well sized patch of bare earth laid out before him. With the quiet jungle waiting just a few feet up ahead. He risked taking a quick glance back at its bulky head to make sure he hadn't awakened the sleeping giant. Rexes were surprisingly fast if they catch you unaware or you wake them up from their afternoon nap.

Feeling that he was in the clear, James relaxed his tensed shoulders and took another step forward, freezing as he felt something split beneath his foot and create a loud _snap!_ His eyes widened and gave a slight twitch as he slowly turned his head back towards the Rex. Widening them even more as the beast parted its eyes open to reveal a primal red reptilian orb. Blinking a couple of times to wake up, the beast exhaled sharply, ruffling the line of bushes next to its snout as it lifted its massive head off the ground and glared down at James angrily.

Its red reptilian eyes flickered with a glint of hunger and it bellowed an angry roar, prompting James to take off running into the jungle as it suddenly got to its feet. Slamming a three toed thickly padded foot down on James's boot print, it charged after him, knocking trees over in its wake as it stomped in chase, bellowing angrily.

"It's always that one random ass mother fucking TWIG!" James screamed, tearing through the jungle ferns as he ran for his life, towards what he believed was the right direction towards Takashi and the others.

The T-rex easily kept pace after its fleeing prey with its long legs carrying it far with each massive stride it took. Leaving a tale-tale three toed clawed footprint in the ground as it chased after the retreating human before it.

Jesus, why did this always happen to him?

XXX

Takashi panted tiredly as he stood hunched over taking in gulps of air. Sweat trickled down his forehead as he looked up at the herd of cornered Gallimimus clucking and chirping skittishly while throwing Takashi and the others fearful glances. After a long few miles of running and weaving through thick lines of jungle, they had finally cornered the herd of skittish dino's in a dried up creek bed which had once been damned up by what must have been beavers as there was a small crudely built wooden dam behind the flock, blocking whatever means of escape they had.

"FINALLY!" Rei exclaimed in both relief and fatigue, hunched over with her hands on her knees as she fought to breath. "These bastards were fast! Would have been nice if Rambo told us these things were super-fast beforehand!"

"No kidding." Saeko agreed nodding her sweaty head.

Takashi just stood their panting as he glanced around the looming ridges of the dried creek, while keeping a wary eye out for carnivores and James.

"Damn. Where is he?" Takashi muttered, keeping his eyes trained on the jungle.

"He's probably wondering around the jungle like a dumb ass. God knows after the stupid stunt he pulled with all those dino-thingies and leading them away while we bust our asses chasing after nearly impossibly fast over grown chickens!" Rei ranted, a tick mark forming on her forehead as she recalled James earlier actions of leading the herd away.

Takashi rolled his eyes and focused back on the jumpy group of Gallimimus, frowning his eyebrows as he notice them begin to squawk in alarm, cocking their heads in an urgent manner.

"What's wrong with these things?" Saeko asked questioningly, feeling a little concerned about the creatures sudden change in attitude.

"I don't know. James is the dinosaur expert." Takashi answered, his ears perked at a strange incoming booming noise. "What the hell?"

Everyone jumped as a massive roar echoed over their heads. Rei cringed and clung onto Takashi's arm. "What the hell was that?!"

Takashi lifted his eyebrows as he noticed Rei's fairly large breasts pressed up against his arms, glancing sideways, he noticed Saeko bore a jealous glare towards the both of them, but widened her eyes as the ground suddenly began to shake.

"What the fuck!"

The Gallimimus squalled in terror and looked up at the looming wooden dam as the source of the rumbling came from behind it. Unknown to the terrified creatures, a familiar face clambered over the top of the dam and landed in the center of the flock. Pushing and shoving his way through the now startled creatures all the while yelling, "Cuse me! Out of the way! Coming through!"

"J-James-san?" Rei perked up, recognizing the young man.

"RUN!" James yelled.

Just as he had yelled the magic words, an unbelievable amount of force slammed into the wooden barricade, sending full sized wooden logs, chunks of dried mud, and several Gallimimus to slow to move out of the way, flying everywhere. This force was quickly revealed to be a giant reddish brown T-rex as it paused for a moment to roar angrily at Takashi and the girls before charging towards them.

"Holy shit!" Takashi yelled, tearing ass after James with Rei and Saeko right behind him.

"What the hell, James!?" Rei screamed, running right beside the young man who seemed to be gathering even more speed.

"Hey don't look at me! Blame the random ass twig I stepped on!" he yelled over the Rex's loud roaring, looking back as the tailing beast quickly began to close in.

"UHHHAAAAAHH!" Takashi, Rei and Saeko screamed fearfully as the beast opened its toothy maw, preparing to bite all three of them, at once.

"Damn it!" James snarled, glancing back at the T-rex as its jaws neared Takashi's spiky haired head. Looking over at a nearby Gallimimus barley keeping pace with a large blood gash on its long leg, James closed his eyes and cursed himself before body slamming into the frail creature causing it to bump Takashi out of the way and take his place in the Rexes jaws as they came down with bone crushing force.

Takashi and the girls looked as the Gallie gave a pitifully cry of pain before falling limp in the Rex's veracious maw as it shook the lifeless corpse violently and slammed it on the ground, splattering the dried cracked ground with fresh blood.

Takashi sucked in a gulp of air and sighed shakily, looking up at James with a grateful expression. "Thanks man. You saved my ass."

"No prob. Now less talk, more running!" James said hurriedly, picking the pace up as the made their way through the creek bed and through the jungle. Quickly finding themselves on beach much like the one they were on when they first arrived on Ark with a few wandering Dodo's pecking around in the sand.

XXX

Once they were satisfied that they were a safe enough distance away from the T-rex, they all stopped to rest. All of them were out of breath, and their bodies shook anxiously at the thought of the Rex coming after them, aside from the fact their bodies were coursing with adrenaline.

"H-h-holy... shit!" Takashi panted, licking his dry lips as he stood hunched over breathing heavily. "T-That was a- T-T-rex!"

"Yea," James wheezed, flopping down onto the sand, panting wearily. He was pretty much spent for the day seeing as he had both ran and swam for his life twice in a row! All in one day! "The Rexes on this island are a bitch to deal with."

"No kidding!" Rei sighed, sitting down beside him. "And you _always_ have to run for your life?"

"Every day," James acknowledged, lifting his index finger as he added. "Except on Tuesday's. Tuesday's are reserved for me time."

Rei couldn't help but giggle at his tired sarcastic remark, although she was still generally shaken from running for her life from something like a T-rex. James groaned feebly and slowly got up from the warm sand. Dusting off his soaking wet leather armor as he slowly walked up to one of the wandering Dodo's while drawing his makeshift stone hammer. The little bird lifted its beak off the ground and cocked its head, looking up at him stupidly as he brought his hammer down, killing it in one swift blow.

"There!" James announced, picking up the fat feathery body of the deceased Dodo in one hand and sheathing his hammer in its hilt at his hip as he pulled its sopping wet leather bag around from his back and stuffed the bird inside as he made his way into the neighboring jungle. "Now we have food. Come on, let's get back."

Rei looked back at Takashi and Saeko with a look of surprise and shock at how simple he made killing the little Dodo seem. Takashi just smiled and shook his head, following James into the jungle with Saeko right behind him. Rei closed her eyes and shook her head. "He's kind of cute once you get to know him," she muttered to herself, her cheeks lighting up a light pink as she got up and dusted the sand off her skirt, jogging after the others.

XXX

James was dog tired! And that was an understatement. More like Direwolf tired. It had been a long day, all of it boiling down to him running for his life several times today and having it end with coming up with a reasonably fat Dodo. Which meant it was mostly feather rather than meat and fat.

"Look on the bright side, James-chan," Rei inquired cheerfully, smiling as he sulked forward, growing even more disappointed at the thought of only coming up with a damn Dodo. "At least we got something to eat right?"

"Yeah," Takashi agreed. "Not to mention you saved us from a T-rex. That's pretty awesome if you ask me."

"It's not that I feel useless or nothing." James interjected, holding his left index finger up interrupting them. "It's the principle. I should be able to provide more for my guest as the host of my household, but instead I can't do any better than this feathered bastard I got stuffed in back!"

Rei giggled and shook her head. They had been walking down the beaten path James a made through the jungle leading back to his base for about an hour now. All the while hearing him bark about how pathetic his catch was.

Rei had to admit, he was pretty good looking. He was quite handsome in fact. Although she had just met him she couldn't help but feel a strange sense of comfort while being around the young castaway. He was friendly and laid back, kind of like Hisashi had been and he was almost on par with Takashi on leadership skills. Almost, key word. But, even though he was living in what was almost the epitome of a living hell, he was somehow still sane. Well, somewhat sane.

But, to him it seemed like your normal everyday life. Hell, he _preferred_ it here rather than their old world which now belonged to the dead. Rei lowered her gaze, staring down at the ground sadly as she recalled everything that happened. And the fact she would never see her parents again.

Then she couldn't but smile at the hospitality James had given her and her friends. Sure, he seemed a little off when they first arrived, but after today she learned he was funny, very brave and maybe a little crazy.

Her face lit up a light red as she recalled his well-muscled body this morning. Obviously he was a little dense for a guy his age when it came to girls seeing as he just waltzed in in the living room in nothing but his boxers, but she couldn't help but admit he was very well built. More so than Takashi who was shorter and way more slender than he was.

In fact, if he had attended the school she and Takashi went too, he'd have had girls falling head over heels for him. Seriously, who wouldn't want that well-toned muscular body all to their selves. Rei smashed her eyes shut and shook her head trying to relieve herself of a few fantasies that popped up in her head.

She just met the guy!

But, still...

James suddenly hit the brakes, holding a hand up to stop the others. "Hold up!" he whispered. Keeping his eyes trained along the bushes lining the tree line of the trail.

"James-san?" Saeko frowned her eyebrows questioningly, quickly drawing her attention to the line of brush lining the pathway as the ferns gave a small twitch. By instinct, she reached for the hilt of her sword that was no longer there.

A low faint hiss leaked out of the thrashing brush, prompting another set of bushes to begin to hiss.

"W-What the hell is that?" Rei asked fearfully, hiding behind James who glared from one bush to the other.

"Everyone," James began, speaking in a low hush tone of voice. "Get ready to move... quickly."

Rei gulped, holding onto James shoulder as he slowly began to back up. Motioning his head to Takashi and Saeko, who nodded and slowly followed in suit. As they quietly made their way down the way they came.

However, a loud shrill caw cut them off.

James whirled around frowning as what had been stalking him for several months now finally decided to make a move on his territory, once again.

Stepping out of the tree line into the dim light of the shaded forest, was a deep sea green Utahraptor with brilliant blue eyes and pale blue feathers on the back of its head, neck, tail and elbows. It lifted its scaly lips revealing a mouth full of razor sharp fangs, while clicking its wicked toe claw against the ground as it sized up its prey.

James glared over at the imposing raptor, hearing Rei whimper and hide behind him as Takashi and Saeko took a couple steps back from the aggressive beast. Utahraptors were vicious carnivores. One of the many threats among the islands inhabitants due to their blinding speed, and wicked claws that they could utilize with unmatched precision. But the biggest threat about these creatures was…they never ever hunt alone.

As if on cue, two more raptors erupted out of the jungle, ahead of them this time rather than behind, with one being an exquisite sapphire blue donning blood red crimson feathers along its body and the other a rust brown with pearl white feathers decorating its body.

"Oh shit!" Takashi cursed, glancing back and forth between the surrounding carnivores. "We're trapped!"

James frowned, he remembered this raptor. The deep green color of its scales along with those deep blue eyes that were considered unnatural compared to the beasties fellow pack mates red orange slitted eyes.

This raptor was the leader of what remained of the pack he once fought with over this territory. "Guess old habits die hard? Eh, Emerald?" James smirked, getting a reaction from the raptor in the form of a snarl.

"You know this thing?" Rei questioned, shrinking behind James as the 7 foot tall monster towered over them, snarling menacingly.

"Yea, you could say that." James muttered lowly. "I once fought this big bitch over territory and wiped out a good deal of her pack. So you could say we're old friends."

The others widened their eyes at his simple yet dark explanation as he added, "Guess she wants to settle the score now." he growled, pulling out his stone hammer as the raptor, Emerald, unleashed an ear ringing screech, preparing to move in for the kill.

OK! Sorry it took so long and I hope you liked this chapter. Keep in mind I do have a plot laid out and it might-no, WILL- get tricky a good ways into the story so bear with me and my momentarily shitty writing. I will have my moments, trust me.

I will look back on earlier chapters ahead of time and improve them. For example, my numerous errors in both Prologue and Chapter 1.

Now, for the tricky part.

What would you like for James to tame? Now I have a major spoiler alert, Emerald is the first dino I'll have him tame. I know, I know but for future updates PM me ideas- if said story gains your interest and as for pairings, i got this, TakashixSaeko, ok but Rei, Shizuka, Takagi and for the wierdos out there that might think it, and Alice are not, repeat, NOT, pairing with James. Leave that to the future when I get deeper into the story. Guess what, no lie when I say this either, I will boggle your mind in the long run. I promise you, this will be at least 2 books long.

I have a plan for this story and it will mess with your mind.

Review, Like, Follow and have a nice day.


	4. Chapter 3

Hello and welcome back to another chapter of Ark Survival Evolved. Now before we kick this thing off, I just wanted to take the time and say that I do not own Ark. Now I know you guys read this a lot in other fics but in this case it just came to me that the devs of the devoloping game could and even might, have me shut down my fic while their game is still in development if I make one false move and tarnish their game. So here and now I will announce that this story is a variation of Ark Survival Evolved and what I believe you might find interesting.

The devs have all rights to Ark and I am nothing but a mere sloppy writer quite possibly mucking up their most prized work. I may not be the best writer but I do ask for a chance on this one because man this story hit me so hard I literally can't sleep at night without dreaming of this stories sequences in my head. But I don't just ask for some support, I hope I can at least earn it in the long run.

But to do that, you need to follow up on my story.

Another thing, if you have the patients to bear with my sloppy writing sequences which in time will be fixed and updated, then support the devs of Ark as well. They are the geniuses behind the game and my main inspiration behind this story. I just hope they give me the honor of writing this and once again it will get heavily confusing towards the end of the story. But for now, read on and prepare yourselves for the ride of your life in the harsh and hostile world of Ark.

 **Updated: 9/21/15**

 **Special Thanks to my Beta Reader Draco38**

* * *

Chapter 3 The Newest Member

Pulling out his stone hammer, James frowned and faced his oldest foe, Emerald the Raptor. Emerald's tail thrashed angrily from side to side as she slowly began to circle the group of quivering teenagers. She lifted her lips as a threatening snarl escaping her jaws.

She glared at James and slammed her sickle clawed foot forcefully on the ground, unleashing an ear ringing screech that rallied the two other raptors behind him. Causing them to lift their feathered heads and screech in return.

The raptors were quickly entering a frenzied state of mind as Emerald released another screech. Preparing to move in for the kill with her sights set directly onto James, who stood in between the hateful beast and the others hiding behind him.

"Takashi, take the girls and head back to base!" James ordered, raising his hammer to meet the intimidating raptor head on.

"What?!" Takashi exclaimed in shock. "James-!"

"Do as I say!" James yelled over him, interrupting his protest. "They're not interested in you guys, or the dead Dodo. They want me."

"B-But why?" Rei demanded, refusing to move. "We're not going to leave you to fight these things all by yourself!"

"Listen, raptors are intelligent creatures. They're damn near as smart as humans! They don't want to kill us for food; they want to kill me because this is the same pack I drove out of this area!" James explained, his face shadowed by his bangs as he added grimly. "And this time, they're not going to leave until they tear me to shreds..."

He jerked his head around, making Takashi, Rei and Saeko jump at the raw determination they saw in his eyes. "Go! Run back to the base and lock the doors! I'll hold them off as long as I can!"

"James!?" Rei began, moving towards him only to be pulled away by Takashi. "Come on!" he grunted, shoving her along down the path. "Saeko-san, let's go!"

Nodding, the raven haired swords woman took off after them, but threw a reluctant glance back at James as he yelled, "Come on you feathered bitch! Come on!"

The two other raptors moved to give chase after Takashi and the girls, but was stopped by a commanding hiss from Emerald, who cawed angrily at the two underlings before resting her murderous gaze back onto James, snarling at him vengefully.

"Bring it!" James growled, getting into a fighting stance.

Emerald narrowed her eyes at the young man, lowering herself into a crouching position and wiggling her haunches. James frowned at the sight of this, but quickly kept his eyes trained on the other two raptors prancing along the sidelines. Cawing and screeching excitedly.

James lifted an eyebrow curiously at the underlings; they were way too anxious to be veteran hunters like Emerald and were barely half her size as well. So most likely they were youngsters fresh out of the den.

James smirked and took his gaze off the two younger raptors for only a split second as he mocked. "Wow, so these two are all you have left now? That's sad, even for you Emerald."

The agitated female raptor snapped her jaws towards James, glaring at him with pure unimaginable hatred in her slitted blue eyes. Obviously he struck a nerve.

"Well then..." James paused, suddenly spinning around as the young brown raptor lunged forward and smashed the jagged end of his hammer into its head. Killing the eager young raptor in one precise blow, splattering blood all over his weapon and hand as its skull parted open to reveal its brain matter.

Emerald simply stared down coldly at her deceased lackey as its limp body slid up to her clawed feet. Her facial features on her snout never changed, not even throwing an enraged snarl at him. She looked up from her deceased pack mate and narrowing her eyes at him. Within the feral mind of the female sparked a flicker of respect. She had to give him credit for luring her comrade to his demise by purposely turning his back on him. Initiating the overly zealous youngster to launch its obvious surprise attack, only to have it end with his untimely demise.

Screeching in rage at the loss of its comrade, the crimson raptor dashed forward, jaws wide open to sink its waiting fangs into James's flesh, its hands outstretched to flay him.

Narrowing his eyes, James sprinted head on towards the young creature, once again catching the raptor off guard at his head on assault. The youngster, obviously not used to prey fighting back, skittering to a halt. James caught a glimpse of fear in the creature's eyes as he leaped into the air. His hammer drawn back to smash its head open as well.

However, that fear quickly gave way to sadistic pleasure as he widened his eyes. Gritting his teeth as a sharp pain in his ribs caused him to unconsciously look down at the source of the pain.

Emerald, having left her lackey to serve as a distraction, had finally leapt into action with unbelievable ferocity. Having leapt high into the air and slammed her massive clawed foot into his side, kicking him in midair.

"Fuck!" James growled, rolling to a recovery and narrowly dodging out of the way of the crimson raptors snapping jaws. Countering with a quick uppercut from his hammer, and a swift roundhouse across Emerald's snout, as she dove low to aim for his unprotected legs.

Shaking her head, Emerald screeched angrily and prepared to move in for another full on assault only to be silenced with a kick to the gut by James.

"Ah shaddap!" James quickly followed up with a swift blow across the head with his hammer, knocking the leader out cold. Placing a foot on her side, he pushed her down before spinning around and striking the crimson raptor with a sharp blow across the snout as it charged in for a fatal bite to the throat.

Rolling across the loose dirt covered ground, the crimson quickly recovered and flipped back to its feet. Shaking its head and snarling. Its cold unfeeling orange eyes were filled with rage

James gritted his teeth and pulled his hammer high above his head, sheer exhaustion and the pain in his side was quickly weighing him down. He was going to have to end this brawl. Quickly!

Keeping his hammer held over head, James glared at the charging raptor as rage finally overtook the beast's primitive mind. Giving way into nothing but pure animalistic fury. Using its own anger against it, James remained rooted to his spot as the raptor quickly closed the distance between them, opening its jaws wide for the finishing bite.

Reacting on split second timing, James placed his remaining strength into his arm. He brought his hammer down on top of the raptors head with a battle cry, completely shattering the creatures skull and splattering its brains across the ground as its body continued to truck forward, flying past James to flip and tumble down the path. It left a long bloody smear stain across the ground as its lifeless body slid a few feet behind James before finally laying still. Giving a final involuntary twitch, before falling permanently still.

Keeling over from exhaustion, James slumped forward. Falling onto his right knee and balancing himself with his left hand, preventing himself from falling face first into the dirt.

"Shit!" James hissed, rubbing his injured side gingerly. Lifting his hand up to see a fair amount of blood coating his fingers. His blood. "Damn, Emerald," he chuckled dryly, glancing over at the unconscious raptor who laid sprawled out across the ground a few feet away from him, breathing heavily. "You got me pretty good, but not enough to kill me. Well... yet anyway."

Clasping his injured side, James hissed through clenched teeth as he struggled to get to his feet. Placing his hammer in its sheath, he began to limp his way down the path.

However, something stopped him.

Glancing behind him, he noticed Emeralds unconscious form several feet behind him. Looking forward again he tossed around the warring thoughts ricocheting around in his head. As much as he just wanted to leave the relentless female raptor behind to die alone or just kill her himself, his conscience urged him to try another tactic. One that could greatly benefit him in the long run.

Sighing in both irritation and discontent. James straightened up and turned around, walking over to Emeralds unconscious body and picking up her long scaly tail in his arms. He proceeded to drag her behind him with great effort as he made his way back to base while mentally cursing himself for what might possibly be the biggest mistake of his life.

XXX

It was almost high noon and he still hadn't returned.

Rei tightened her grip around the crude wooden shaft of her spear- no, James spear- as she stared anxiously at the door. Waiting for the return of the castaway who had stupidly stayed behind to fight three monstrous dinosaurs. All by himself!

Currently, they were back at James place standing guard at the front door as they waited either for his safe return or the arrival of some unsavory house guests. Saeko was upstairs in her bedroom with Shizuka, Takagi, an unconscious Hirano and Alice standing guard with Zeke and Spit by her side. With the latter being more suited for handling its fellow dinosaur brethren.

Rei still couldn't get his words out of her head. It both pissed her off and frightened her the way he ordered them to just run and leave him behind. And Takashi let him do it!

Glaring over at a certain spiky haired young man standing guard by her side, Rei whispered, "Why the hell did you run? We should have stayed and helped him fight!"

"Well then what the hell was I supposed to do? Unless you haven't noticed, we aren't in Tokonosu anymore!" Takashi growled in frustration, shifting his irritated eyes in her direction. "We were surrounded, Rei! If we had stayed behind, we all would have just distracted him and gotten ourselves killed in the process. He knew what he was doing, we didn't."

Rei seethed with rage. She hated it when Takashi was right. But still.

She lowered her gaze and stared down at her hands tightened around her spear. She hated feeling useless; to feel utterly helpless and be unable to protect her loved ones.

After all, she had already failed once.

Fresh tears threatened to spill from her eyes as memories of Hisashi came flooding back into her mind. She resented herself every day for being unable to protect him. To watch one of the men she loved kill the other.

She didn't hate Takashi for what he did, she never could nor will. She just hated the fact she would lose the only man she truly loved to Mrs. Busujima. In fact, the thought of them together sent her into a rage.

However.

She brought her hands close to her chest and placed her right hand over her heart. Feeling her own steady heartbeat beneath her chest, she was not afraid to admit she could lose Takashi. In fact, she knew she deserved it. She betrayed him for his best friend and in the end blamed him for it only to cover up her own mistakes. But, in doing so she broke the heart of one of the only men who really loved her.

But, now.

Rei dug her fingers into her shirt; she had to admit that James did gander her attention. Even though she has literally only known the young man for a few days, she couldn't help but admire his courage. He had willingly stayed behind to fight those monsters in order to give her and the others a chance to escape. Knowing it would quite possibly end with him losing his own life.

Not a lot of people back home would willingly sacrifice themselves on someone else's behalf. And...

Rei's cheeks glowed with a shade of red, she had to admit though, he was quite attractive in his own way. Not just in looks but personality. He was brave, funny, somewhat laid back and hell even cocky at times. But all in all he was a great guy. He made her feel good and even made her laugh. Then, there was that body...

Rei felt her face heat up and shook her head in a desperate attempt to clear her head. Once her mind had returned to its tranquil state, she stifled a wary sigh.

"Come on, James. Hurry up."

And, as if on right on cue, they heard a tried moan holler. "Hey! Open the gate!"

Rei's eyes lit up as she heard the familiar voice of a certain young castaway. Barreling out of the front door alongside Takashi, they both rushed to the large wooden gate and lifted the gate barricade up and swung the doors open.

"James-san! You're ok!" Rei exclaimed with great relief suddenly catching sight of the large drooping tail in his arms leading down to a familiar green beast, not knowing it was unconscious. "Why did you bring that thing here? Are we going to eat it?"

Just as the beat down castaway was about to answer her question, Takashi, who had walked over to get a better look at the supposedly deceased creature, jumped out of his skin like a startled jackrabbit as the beast gave a sharp exhale.

"Holy crap, it's still alive!"

"What?!" Rei exclaimed, jumping back a safe distance from James who tilted his head puzzled by Rei and Takashi's reaction.

"What? She's knocked out. It's not like she's going to hurt anybody."

"Yea, you say that until she wakes up!"

James rolled his eyes at Takashi and just pushed past them through the gate. Dragging the rather heavy dinosaur behind him as he did so.

"James, why in the hell are you bringing that thing here?" Rei questioned hastily, walking a safe distance behind the castaway believing the unconscious monster could awake any moment.

"Because what was I supposed to do? Leave her die?" James questioned in return, making way around the side of the house to the leafy storage shed.

"Yes!' Rei cried, frustration boiling inside her stomach as she pressed on around the house after James with Takashi right behind her. Chewing his ass out all the way around the house.

XXX

James once again, rolled his eyes as he sat Emeralds long tail down on the ground. He had barely caught Rei's cries of protest as he dragged the large female raptor around the house towards the thatch storage shed. He didn't have time to deal with her arguing with him about the sanity of what he was doing. Right now he had to build a cage for his newest house guest. Quickly!

With the construction of the cage percolating in his mind, James hurriedly turned around and made his way past Rei and Takashi, with the both of them all the while chewing his ass out for bringing Emerald here and doubting his sanity, as he walked around the side of the house and walked through the front door.

To be quickly greeted by the other remaining members of the household.

"James-san, you made it back!" Saeko greeted, meeting him at the front door.

"Told you I'd make it." James smirked, returning to the task at hand.

"We were really worried about you. Especially when Mrs. Busujima, Miyamoto, and Takashi came barging through the door ordering us to hide in one of the rooms upstairs." Takagi explained, puffing her cheeks out as James seemingly payed no mind to her. "Oi, are you even listening?"

"Probably not because he's gone completely nuts!" Rei answered on James behalf. Watching him root through the medicine cabinet and pull out the bowl of Narcoberries from earlier.

Stepping through the hallway leading upstairs, Kohta yawned loudly and stretched his arms out having finally awoken from his unintentional slumber.

"Yo, wha I miss!" he jabbered through his long yawn.

Takagi scoffed and directed her attention to the sluggish otaku as he slothfully shuffled over to them with half lidded eyes behind his thick black glasses.

"Nothing much. Just dumbass over there being stupid from what Miyamoto is telling us." This comment prompted James to flip the bird over his shoulder as he exited the house, carrying a bowl full of Narcoberries in his other hand.

"Hey! You wanna run that by me again you asshat!" Takagi yelled after him, outraged that James had given her the finger.

Takashi and the others couldn't help but snicker quietly as Takagi stamped out of the door after him, shaking a fist after him all the while cussing him out.

"Damn, he's lucky Takagi didn't attack his ass for that." Takashi chuckled, remembering a time during freshmen year when some kid did the exact same thing James did. Only to receive a flying chair in the back of the head.

"Oh its because Takagi liiiiiikes him! You all should have been there when she popped off he had a nice ass!" Shizuka giggled earning a shocked gasp from Kohta. Who was now fully awake by this comment concerning his beloved Takagi praising another man's body.

"W…Wa…What!"

Shizuka giggled even more when Kohta lifted a trembling fist to the air with a fiery comical background behind him and declared, "Love Rival!"

Takashi, who had been standing on the sidelines all the while watching Kohta declare all-out war for Takagi's affection, rolled his eyes at the fuming otaku. "Alright, come on lets-"

Takashi cut off as a familiar voice suddenly screamed. "Holy crap!"

At first, Takashi ran up to the front door in alarm, but chuckled sheepishly as he quickly put two and two together about why Takagi had screamed.

"Uhh, is she ok?" Saeko questioned, a hint of concern in her voice having heard Takagi scream in such a manner.

"Uh, just... follow me." Takashi motioned, chuckling nervously. Unable to put their current situation into words without creating some form of misunderstanding.

Throwing each other quizzical looks, Saeko, Shizuka, Kohta and Alice all followed Takashi's lead as he walked around the side of the house after Takagi, with Rei face palming and following suit.

"Hey Takagi-san, why did you scr- HOLY CRAP!" Kohta began as he rounded the corner of the house only to scream in utter surprise at the sight of a very large unconscious sea green raptor with pale blue feathers around its body laying a few feet in front of him. Huffing a groggy snarl as it shifted in its sleep.

"Oh my what a pretty dinosaur!" Alice cried, her jaw went slack at the impressive size of the female raptor. "Are we keeping it?" she asked excitedly.

"No-!" Takagi began.

"Yes." James interrupted, popping his head out of the thatch shed. "And if all you're going to do is criticize me, then go back inside. I got this."

"No! No you don't got this!" Takagi contradicted, shaking her head fiercely at the slightest idea of keeping such a creature. "This thing is way too dangerous to keep here! How do we know if this thing won't eat us... or ALICE! It's a velociraptor for god's sake!"

"First of all, no its not. Velociraptor are a lot smaller, that's one Jurassic Park got wrong. And no we don't know if Emerald will eat us," James said simply, exiting the shed with an arm full of wood as long as his torso. "And second, you said the same thing about Spit, but he didn't eat Alice."

"That's because Spit is tiny, this thing is huge!" Takagi practically screamed, her face a deep frustrated red. "And what the hell are we going to do once this thing wakes up?"

"She's not going to wake up any time soon. I gave Emerald here a Narcoberry so she's going to be pretty stoned for a few hours. Which is just enough time for me to build her a cage."

"Wait a minute. You named it?!"

"Yea, you know, Emerald for her green scales." James pointed out, hammering one of the carved pieces of wood into the ground. "Plus I've known her for a while,"

While everyone else stood back with deadpanned expressions, excluding Takagi who just stared at James and the unconscious raptor widened and slack jaws. James paused his building to look over at Alice and ask, "Hey, Alice, are Spit and Zeke inside?"

"Yes. They're locked up upstairs," Alice answered immediately answered, her little body wiggling with excitement. "James onee-chan, what kind of dinosaur is Emerald-san?"

"She's a Raptor, Utahraptor to be specific." James smiled, amused by Alice's curiosity of the vicious slumbering carnivore. "Alice, keep an eye on Spit and Zeke. I don't want them meeting her just yet. Not until I get the cage reinforced anyways."

"Ok!" Alice complied. "Oh, can I pick the next dinosaur we get to keep next time?"

Looking down at Alice, he smiled, amused by her innocent behavior, "Ok, next time I go out, I'll let you pick your own dinosaur."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"Yay! I can't wait!" Alice cheered, jumping up and down with stars in her eyes. "I want a T-rex!"

This comment made James deflate slightly and stare down at the eager young girl, questioning whether or not what he promised was a good idea.

The others chuckled at the discouraged look on his face. "Uhh, Alice-chan how about we wait and see before we go bringing home another mouth to feed." Kohta told her, smiling down at the young girl as the young girl stopped jumping around excitedly and down casted her eyes in disappointment.

"Oh, ok."

"And besides," Takagi added, patting the little girl on the head reassuringly. "You have Spit and Zeke to keep you company in the meantime."

"Yea, your right!" Alice nodded enthusiastically and took off back around the house. "I'm gonna go check up on Spit and Zeke! They must be really worried!"

Saeko quickly started after her, "I guess I'll get the fire started to cook our dinner. Takashi-kun, you wanna help me?"

Takashi brightened up and nodded, "Sure!"

James just blinked after all of them, watching as Rei threw Saeko and Takashi a jealous glare before stifling a long sigh and begrudgingly following them back around the house. What's her problem?

"So," James blinked as Takagi walked up to him, staring down at him with her arms crossed. "What exactly do you plan to do with... _it_?"

"If you are referring to Emerald, I plan on training her. If I can pull this off, we'll have a little more muscle around here to protect the base and an extra hunting hand. Not to mention a quick form of transportation to get around Ark," James explained, returning back to building the cage.

Takagi widened his eyes at the last part of his explanation. "You plan on riding it?! Are. You. NUTS?!"

"A little, yea." James answered, sarcastically, waving his hammer at her. "And this is coming from the girl that says I have a nice ass or something like that." he added, continuing to hammer wood bars into the ground. Not even the slightest bit interested, or creeped out from what Shizuka had told him earlier

"WHAT!?" Takagi screeched, her face bright red with embarrassment. "WHO TOLD YOU?!... SHIZUKA!"

James winced, cringing as Takagi began to shout in a fit of rage. Scratching the inside of his left ear he made sure he could still hear out of it. The good news was he could still hear, however, he had this obnoxious ringing echoing in his ear.

As Takagi stamped off around the house, all the while cursing and screaming at the top of her lungs at Shizuka for spilling her secret, James just shook his head while he tied another bar of wood across the line of embedded bars with a strand of thick vines, muttering "Girls."

XXX

Five hours later, as the sun started to go down beyond the horizon giving way to nighttime, James exhaled an exhausted sigh. He took a few steps back to admire his handy work. Emerald, who was now completely surround by a crude wooden cage tied together with several vines and thatch knots, keeping the main body of the cage firmly knitted together. The cage itself was firmly hammered into the firm soil, thus preventing any possible chance of it being pushed over by Emerald whenever she woke up. It was also firm enough to at least keep the raptor locked up for the time being, however, it would not hold her long once she knew how crudely constructed it was. Emerald was frighteningly smart, even by Raptor standards so training her might be a bit of a challenge.

Hearing a collection of footsteps behind him, James looked back to see everyone coming over to investigate his work. Stopping with her hand on her hips, Rei looked the hand built cage over for a second. "Not bad. You work pretty quickly."

Wiping a strand of sweat from his brow, James smiled tiredly, "Yep! When I put my mind on building something, I won't stop until its finished."

"Oh, really?" Saeko smirked, her eyebrows raised with peaked interest. "That's a good quality in a man. Aside from a well-trained body and mind." she hinted, noticing James wasn't wearing a shirt, revealing his sweaty well-toned body to the world. Again.

"Hey sexy how's about you take them leather jeans off next, huh?" Shizuka poked teasingly, covering leaning her head over to whisper to James who widened his eyes and glanced around nervously. "I bet Takagi would love to see that ass again!"

"IF YOU SO MUCH AS SAY ANOTHER WORD-!" Takagi roared, having caught onto the busty nurses antics. However, she was quickly cut off as an aggravated snarl escaped the cage behind James, making everyone jump aside from James. Who smirked and turned around.

"Bout time you woke up, Sleeping Beauty."

XXX

Emerald snarled in irritation as a human female's voice scream echoed in her sensitive eyes. Everything was starting to come back now, at first it was all just a haze then a stupid female human suddenly began to scream about whatever human females disapprove of.

Humans were such annoying creatures.

Lifting her head off the ground, she weakly blinked a couple of times before shaking her head and hissing at the discomforting ringing in her ears and the soreness on the back of her skull.

What happened? The last thing she remembered was... fighting Kinslayer.

"Bout time you woke up, Sleeping Beauty."

Emerald turned her head towards the direction of the annoying human voice and narrowed her slitted eyes. It was him, Kinslayer! Shakily getting to her feet, she growled angrily at him. He killed her pack and drove her out of their home. Now it was time to return the favor!

Pushing of the ground with her long forearms, Emerald slowly fell into a hunters crouch. Wiggling her haunches and clicking her sharp toe claws on the firm ground beneath her feet. Eager to sink her fangs into his pathetic flesh!

Lunging forward with a screech, Emerald aimed for his neck first, her jaws wide open to clamp down on his windpipe. Only to slam snout first into something hard and wooden, causing her to cancel her onslaught and stagger backwards.

She shook her head to clear the stars from her sight and threw a questioning snarl over at the strange wooden obstacle before her. What is this? She stalked towards the strange obstacle, giving it a curious sniff before tilting her head upwards, noticing it climb all the way up and block off the sky above her. Traveling her gaze all along the strange foreign object, she quickly discovered she was trapped, noticing the wooden barred walls surrounding her with barely any room for her to stretch and preen herself. How was she supposed hunt to feed herself?

As if an answer to her unheard question, a slab of meat stabbed onto a stick was shoved in front of her. Making her lift her head in surprise and tilt it towards the giver direction.

She narrowed her eyes when she saw it came from Kinslayer.

She hated him. She _despised_ him. _He_ killed her pack! _He_ killed her mate! She wanted to tear him apart! And now he has captured her and... and... was offering her food?

After thinking on the puzzling subject for a moment, the female raptor gave the meat a questioning stare before throwing Kinslayer a suspicious glare. Squinting her slitted blue orbs at him.

"It's not poisoned. It's pretty safe to eat." Kinslayer assured, giving her an odd jester with his lips which resembled baring his fangs at her but wasn't a display of aggression as his eyes betrayed his intentions. They were gentle and kind.

Emerald snorted, and yet this was the same human that kill her entire pack. Disgraceful. She'd rather die in the jaws of a Sharptooth than at the hands of this human. It was much more fitting for the former alpha female to die fighting rather than in the clutches of this insolent human.

Turning her snout up from the offered piece of raw meat, she snarled a loathful guttural growl at Kinslayer, showing she did not desire to eat. She desired to kill him.

The other humans behind him cowed slightly and backed away, but Kinslayer remained rooted to his spot. He gave her another strange jester with his lips that seemed to give off a cocky mocking air that made Emerald growl lowly with disdain.

"You don't scare me big girl and you might as well get used to it. Whether you like it or not, your one of us now."

Emerald cocked her head, puzzled by this strange human's words. Granted she never understood half of what they said and never really cared but she couldn't help but freeze at that last pat. One of us? Does he mean his pack? Why would he want her to join his pack when he killed hers and she tried to kill him in return. It made no sense! Emerald, once again, snorted. Humans were strange creatures indeed.

However, that did not change how she thought about him. She'd escape from this makeshift den and kill him... eventually.

Throwing him a final hateful glare, she turned her back on Kinslayer and sat down. Laying down flat across the ground with her head held up to gaze at the stars and the rising moon climbing across the dimly lit night sky.

Hearing a low sigh behind her, Emerald looked back to see Kinslayer's retreating form walking around the strange oddly shaped den followed by his pack of human supporters. She kept a suspicious slitted eye on his broad slender form as he paused just at the corner of the manmade den and looked back at her.

With that same strange lip jester on his face.

Emerald didn't snarl at him or glare at him. She just stared at him for a long while, his gentle eyes meeting her predatory slits. After what felt like ages, he finally broke eye contact and disappeared behind the corner. Leaving Emerald to stare after him with a strange feeling bubbling in the back of her primitively intelligent mind.

Pushing back this foreign feeling, she shook her head with a disapproving snarl. Returning her gaze back to the glowing moon shining high above her. Humans...

BAM! Another one bites the dust. Hope you enjoyed it and prepare yourselves for what is to come. The next 3 or 4 chapters ahead are when things will get interesting.

I decided to take a more realistic outlook for taming Emerald by the way so I hope you enjoyed it so far. And once again, reviews and likes are much appreciated.

A shout out to Draco38 and HavenofUmbar for giving me much needed support and hope you guys enjoyed it cuz its only gonna get better from here.

Once again, future tame requests are appreciated but for now I'll focus on Emerald until we get further into the story.

Oh, side note, Emerald is based off of Blue from Jurassic World. In case anyone was wondering.


	5. Chapter 4

Hello and welcome back to another chapter of HOTD Ark Survival Evolved. I know I haven't updated this story for a while but I assure you, it's still alive! I've just been busy with my own life! Hope you enjoy it.

Also, updates might come a little later due to now being enrolled in collage and having a job. Cheers, and enjoy :)

I do not own Highschool of the Dead or Ark Survival Evolved.

A special Thanks to Draco38 for being my beta reader.

Chapter 4 Raiders

James awoke in his bed with a jerk. His bloodshot eyes flew open as another series of angry snarls and loud thrashing exploded outside his bedroom window. 'Damn it...' he hissed lowly, climbing out of his bed. Spit, who would always curl up beside him in bed, croaked grumpily and buried his crested head under his little hands as another pissed off screech echoed outside. Along with a mighty _crash_ and a loud _thunk_.

It had been a restless night with Emeralds constant cawing and angry shrieking, finding the idea of herself staying inside a tiny cramped cage most undignifying. The unrelenting noise of Emeralds unimpressed snarls and the roar of thunder in the distance had everyone on edge, especially with their lack of sleep.

Looking up at his master, Spit squinted his eyes, throwing him an accusing glare. "Hey, don't look at me," James defended having noticed his scaly friend's unamused glare. It wasn't his fault Emerald screeched and screamed all. Night. Long!

He didn't get a lick of sleep either and most likely the others didn't as well.

"Alright," James yawned, popping his back as he shuffled tiredly out his bedroom door, "Let's see how the others are doing. Hopefully, they got a little sleep."

Leaving the little Dilophosaur alone by himself on the bed, Spit threw an acknowledging grunt after his master while he buried his head under the pillow. Trying to block out yet another symphony of ungodly shrieking coming from outside the bedroom window.

XXX

Upon entering the living room, James froze in mid step. Looking down at a snoring Hirano laying sprawled out across the floor at his feet

"Uuuh, Kohta?" James questioned, prodding him in the side with his bare foot.

"I wouldn't bother him if I were you," yawned a sleepy voice, revealed to be a sleep deprived Takagi with her chin rested on the dining room table. With Takashi, Rei, Saeko, and Shizuka- who had an exhausted Alice curled up in her lap; sleeping soundly. They were all seated at the table around her. Each of them fighting to keep their eyes open and avoid falling face first onto the table. "He sleeps like a log and it's almost impossible to wake him up. Besides, we were kept up _all_ night long by that stupid dinosaur you have trapped in the backyard," Takagi explained, squinting her inflamed eyes crossly at James.

"What?"

"It's your fault we didn't get any sleep last night! Your damn dinosaur kept us up all night with its screeching and screaming!"

James rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he scoffed, brushing off Takagi's agitated ranting, earning a death glare from the pink haired genius. "Now that everyone is awake, who wants to help me gather some water? I meant to get some yesterday but- well, you know." James vaguely remembered his little escapade with the herd of Trikes, the river of Sarcosuchus' and the T-rex. He cringed at the thought of the T-rex, mainly at the thought of its voracious toothy maw.

Rei's head unconsciously began to fall forward as the lack of sleep was starting to catch back up but quickly snapped it back up. Fluttering her weary eyes tiredly in James direction.

"Hmm... I'llll o wit you..." she mumbled incoherently.

"O-k, so Rei's coming along, "James announced, unsure about Rei's answer in the form of fatigued mumbling. "You coming with us?" his attention directed at Takashi, who was trying his best to stay awake and keep his head up. Saeko had her head rested on his right shoulder with her long glossy lavender hair spread out across his clothed chest and stomach. Snoring lightly with as a trail of drool trickling down the side of her jaw and onto Takashi's shoulder.

"Um, Hm." Takashi agreed with a quiet grunt. Closing his half-lidded eyes, slumping down in his chair with Saeko's head sliding down onto his chest. Muttering quietly in her sleep.

James deadpanned at the three of them, clapping his hands together. "Wake up, sleepy heads! We've got a lot of work to do!" he called behind him, walking out the front door to check on his newest house guest.

"Uhhh, how is he wide awake already?" Rei whimpered, rubbing her reddened eyes in an attempt to chase away the fatigue weighing down her eyelids.

"Five more minutes, mom," Takashi mumbled, stirring in his chair.

"Mmm, Takashi..." Saeko moaned quietly, nuzzling her head against his chest and gripping his t-shirt possessively. Prompting Rei to lift her head up, fully awake as she stared down jealously at the slumbering swordswoman.

"Geez!"

XXX

Stepping around the side of the house, James smirked at the sight of a pacing Emerald. The green Utahraptor was walking to and fro from the cramped sides of her makeshift prison. All the while snarling in discontent and slashing a clawed hand across the wooden bars; creating long, deep indentions in the wood.

"Morning, Sunshine!" James greeted.

Emerald's head instantly shot up, looking back to see him standing a few feet from her cage, smiling warmly at the unimpressed female raptor. Emerald growled lowly at him, basically her way of saying _'Come a little closer and I'll give you a proper good morning!'_

James closed his eyes, shaking his head, "Now is that how you greet someone in the mornings? If so, you're gonna be worse than Takagi once you get used to things around here."

Emerald growled at him. Sticking her muzzle through the small opening in between the bars and huffing a menacing snarl while baring her fangs. Gripping the wooden bars with her dagger-like hand claws. Another offer for him to come a little closer to the cage.

"Sorry," James winked, earning another snarl, "Maybe next time sweetheart."

Emerald huffed softly, glaring after James retreating form. Swishing her tail back and forth, displeased that James didn't come to close to the cage. Chuffing and narrowing her slitted blue orbs as he rounded the side of the house.

Oh, if only she could get her claws on this overbearing human!

XXX

"Man, today is a beautiful day! Isn't it?"

James and the others were merely making their way down the path leaving the base, heading further into the jungle with a little pep in their step. Well, James anyway. Takashi, Rei and Saeko were mainly along for the ride. Shuffling after the energetic young castaway with half lidded eyes.

"Uh, how far is this river?" Rei groaned impatiently, holding her spear tightly against her chest as they made their way down the path into a patch of jungle ferns.

"Not far." James assured, hopping over a small rock hidden beneath the jungle ferns, laid out to jam his toes. "In fact, it's just over these trees!"

"Man, how is he even- OW, DAMN IT!" Takashi suddenly let loose a stream of curse words as he slammed his left foot into the inconspicuous little rock peeking through the low hanging ferns. Jamming his toes, even through the thick toe of his shoe.

Hopping along on his uninjured right leg while he clasped his injured left foot, Takashi hobbled after James and the girls through the trees, all the while murmuring low inaudible curses.

Exiting through the trees, they finally came upon their destination. A wide clearing with a winding river with a small patch of sand along the water's edge. Several palm trees overlooked the tranquil waters below along the river's edge, adding a tropical look to the coursing waterway.

"Wow," Rei gaped, taking in the gorgeous scenery, "It's so beautiful."

"Yea, it's pretty cool." James half-heartedly agreed, focused mainly on his impending thirst rather than the environment around him. Swinging his rucksack off his back, James fished around within the bags contents and pulled out ten deflated waterskins. Popping the caps off of each of them and laying them on the ground eight of them on the ground; taking two of the skins with him as he approached the river's edge.

"Alright, you guys go ahead and fill those up while I get these!" James called, jumping straight into the crystal clear waters while wearing his armor.

"Uhh, doesn't he know that swimming in armor will only weigh him down?" Rei asked with a hint of concern in her voice, worried that he may drown.

Walking over to the water's edge, Saeko lifted her eyebrows in surprise at the sight of the deep blue transparent water.

"Wow! It's so clear!" she remarked as she crouched down and cupped her hands together; filling them up with the translucent water and bringing it up to her face. Giving the limpid liquid a hesitant stare before bringing her cupped hands up to her lips. Taking a tiny sip.

"It's... It's clean!" Saeko widened her eyes, smiling and moving her cupped hands up to Takashi. "Here, try some Takashi-kun~," she cooed, finding Takashi's embarrassed expression amusing.

"Uh, O-Ok..." Takashi stuttered nervously, his face a warm pink as he placed his lips gingerly against the tips of her fingers. Saeko smiled warmly as she tilted her hands up and allowed the lukewarm liquid within her hands to gentle flow down her fingers into Takashi's mouth. Once Takashi drank his fill, Saeko removed her hands from his lips.

"Whoa, it tastes just like filtered water!" Takashi commented, smacking his lips.

Rei, who had been standing on the sidelines watching the entire scene unfold in front of her, grew a tick mark on her forehead and cleared her throat. Deriving the two's attention over to her as she snatched a waterskin off the ground.

"Come on, let's get these things filled up," she growled, stomping over to the water's edge.

Saeko glared after the temperamental spear wielder, boring holes in the back of her skull, but, none the less, kept her cool.

Frowning at Rei's jealousy, Takashi sighed and gathered a few of the waterskins in his arms. With Saeko following his lead as she picked up the few remaining skins and accompanied him over to a spot beside Takashi. Planting him between herself and Rei.

Rei- noticing this action- shot a sideways glare at Saeko who in turn returned her glare with a chilly stare. Two deathly auras began to form around the two. One a fiery orange and the other a frigid blue.

"Can you two knock it off?" Takashi gulped, chuckling sheepishly as both girls suddenly closed the distance between them and glared into each other's faces. With Takashi squished between them, sweating bullets.

Erupting out of the water with a gasp, James held up two bulging waterskins in his left hand. Bringing his free right hand up to his face and pulling back his sopping wet bangs off of his face.

"Alright," he called, waving the refilled skins at them, "I've got mine refilled. How about you guys?"

Takashi stifled a sigh of relief, glancing at the two women beside him. Both of them had now redirected their deadly gazes at James now, who had completely soaked them with water when he had breached the surface.

James, having noticed his mistake and the two women glaring bloody daggers at him, gulped.

"Oops." James chuckled sheepishly, hovering above the water's surface. Completely oblivious to what appeared to be a discolored log floating suddenly emerging from the water behind him.

Rei, Saeko and Takashi widened their eyes at the sight of a massive dark shape gliding lazily just along the water's surface. Its bulging osteoderms covered back muscles gently breaching the water's surface as it slipped past James hovering form silently. It's long streamline tail lightly propelling it across the water's surface without disturbing the tranquil waters behind its targeted prey.

"J-James!" Rei stammered, pointing across the waters at the passing figure.

"Huh?" Puzzled by Rei's gesture, James followed Rei's finger and looked behind him. Only for the bulky creature to slip back beneath the water's surface just as he turned his head. James narrowed his eyes, frowning as he looked around. Takashi was watching the submerged creature wide-eyed as it gracefully twisted and turned through the clear blue waters underneath James. He gritted his teeth and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"James! Get out of there, now!"

Turning to the others on the beach, James just lifted a questioning eyebrow. They were all shouting about something in the water, and waving their arms at him before pointing in his general direction.

' _The hell's going-?'_ James lifted his eyebrows at a low, guttural growl behind him. Feeling something... pointy poke him in the back. Slowly turning his head back, he widened his eyes at the sight of a large bulbous nose protruding out of the water with a familiar looking criss-cross shaped scar across its closed nostrils.

James' gaze traveled past the outrageously shaped snout, past the set of waiting razor sharp teeth. Coming to a stop at the creatures squinting brown orbs which danced with a mixture of murderous intent and glee. A crooked smile seemed to form at the edges of the beasts toothy maw, bobbing its scaling eyebrows in a manner that said.

'We meet again, little snack!'

"Sup." James greeted, deadpanning at the familiar looking Sarco. The creature gave an acknowledging bob of its eyebrows, basically returning the simple greeting, before giving off a low hiss. Slowly opening its massive jaws to reveal its entire set of jagged razor sharp fangs.

"Oh SHIT!" James yelled, paddling frantically to get out of the way.

"James!" Rei cried. Covering her mouth with her hands as the monsters jaws loomed over the young man, preparing to come down with bone crushing force.

"Hey, ugly!" Takashi shouted, picking up a small rock from the sand and throwing it at the creature. "Over here! Hey!"

The Sarcosuchus hissed in annoyance as the small rock stuck him across the snout. Closing his readied jaws halfway, the Sarcosuchus glared over at the spiky haired teen standing on the bank waving his arms and shouting at him. Rei and Saeko joined in as well, picking up rocks and tossing them at the hungry Sarco who snapped his jaws in annoyance; distracting him while James made a beeline to the shore.

"Hey, look over here!" Rei shouted, throwing another stone, striking James across the forehead rather than her intended target.

"Gah! Son of a bitch!" James swore, messaging the steaming welt on his forehead. "What the hell, Rei?!"

"Sorry!" Rei said, apologetically. Jumping as the Sarco unleashed an angry hiss, thrashing its tail as it snapped its jaws in their direction. Glowering at the three teens before returning its gaze back to James who was paddling like a mad man.

Seeing that he was beginning to escape, the beast snapped its jaws angrily and rocketed through the water after him. Its gaping maw opened wide to seize its retreating prey.

"Ah, crap!" James exclaimed, looking back to see the Sarco quickly close the distance between them.

Feeling the soft texture of the river floor beneath his boots, he scrambled through the shallows onto dry land. Stumbling to the others, panting and out of breath, he glanced back at the incoming Sarcho hot on his heels, bounding through the shallows right behind him.

"Run!"

James shot past them like a bat out of hell, snatching his bag off the ground and stuffing the bloated waterskins inside. "Go, go, go!" James rushed, allowing the others to escape first before diving after them.

The Sarcosuchus sprang out of the water with an enraged hiss, snapping its jaws after its prey as it once again disappeared into the jungle. It snapped its jaws in frustration at having lost its prey, again!

Digging its claws into the sand, the Sarcho slowly slipped back into the water, bobbing its eyebrows one last time before disappearing into the waters depths.

XXX

It only took about ten minutes for the group to get a safe distance from the river. They stopped running once they reached the beaten pathway leading back to base.

"Geez," Saeko gasped, hunched over. Winded from having to run for her life. "You weren't kidding about running for your life every day!"

"Yea... told ya!" James wheezed, gasping for air. "Stupid Sarco's!"

Takashi swallowed hard, taking another gulp of air before panting, "That... was a big... crocodile!"

"Baka! You didn't tell us that there are giant crocodiles living on this island!" Rei scolded, scowling at the exhausted young man.

"Must of slipped my mind." James retorted sarcastically, earning a glare from Rei.

"Alright, go ahead and place the waterskins in the bag."

He brought the rucksack up and allowed the others to place their waterskins inside, taking care not to pop off any of the containers sensitive tops. Closing the bag and tossing it over his shoulder, James breathed a weary sigh and shuffled past the others.

"Let's head back. I need to change into a fresh set of clothes."

Takashi, Saeko, and Rei followed the soaking wet young man back to base, who muttered to himself quietly about how much he hated Sarcosuchus'.

XXX

Several days later James was standing outside with his arms crossed, staring straight into a pair of blue slitted eyes glowering back at him.

"You know, Emerald," James began, staring into the female raptors mystical blue orbs feeling as if he were being swept into the murky blue depths of her predatory gaze. "You're not so bad once I got to know you a little better."

Emerald snorted, glaring at him through the wooden bars of her cell. James had been spending a lot of time with her for the past few days. Talking to her none stop and standing nearby her cage. However, he made sure to stand just out of the reach of her claws, much to the female raptors annoyance.

"In fact, you kind of remind me of Takagi," James smirked, seeing the resemblance in the two's overbearing attitude.

XXX

Emerald stiffened, digging her claws into the dirt, giving him a piercing glare. There was no way _she,_ a fierce hunter of the land, was comparable to _that_ pink haired beast! She knew of this unruly human and it was safe to say she did not like her, seeing as all she did was walk around barking at her or the other humans.

The other humans were... tolerable. The slender young male that was typically in the company of one of the other female humans didn't come off as a threat. However, whenever he approached her, he kept his gaze to the ground, showing that he had no intentions of challenging her.

The fat young male that constantly followed the stupid pink haired female around always gave off a nervous air whenever he was within her presence, showing that he as well had no desire to challenge her.

The female humans, however, were a different story. Aside from the stupidity of the pink haired one, the other females were alpha's in their own right. The purple haired female would always come by her cage early in the mornings and stand before her, looking into her eyes for a long moment before dipping her head respectfully and going about her way.

The female with clay-colored hair was a little jumpier than the other humans. She always kept a wary eye on her whenever she passed by her cage or when she accompanied Kinslayer during his daily visits. She would always give off a strange scent whenever she was around him. Emerald would roll her eyes whenever she saw the young female scuffle her foot through the dirt nervously when Kinslayer would speak to her, clearly showing a desired to mate with the young male.

The golden haired female was... slow. That much was certain. Though she kept a respectful distance from her and often avoided eye contact.

Then, there was the human hatchling. It was safe to say she didn't like any of the other humans but the hatchling was a different story. At first, she annoyed Emerald. Always staring at her and talking to her as if she were a pet. But, as easily as it would be to rend the flesh from her tiny body, Emerald had grown accustomed to the small one. She would always visit her at the crack of dawn, sitting beside her cage all the while chattering her ear off while drawing strange shapes in the dirt. She was a curious young one to say the least.

Then, lastly, there was Kinslayer. She... had mixed feelings towards him. She still despised him for what he did to her pack, for what he did to _her._ Keeping her caged as if she were a pet, denying her the vengeance she rightfully deserved!

However, the desire for revenge seemed to dwindle with each passing day. The few short days she had spent with Kinslayer had changed her outlook of him, somewhat. He was kind, and gentle, but strong and firm when he needed to be.

Once, during one of the many lonely nights she had spent within her cage, a marauding Terror Bird had invaded the female's former territory. The former alpha snarled viciously at the bird-brained buffoon but her threat went unheard once the bird realized she was restrained. In fact, it began to taunt her, much to her displeasure.

However, it was unaware of a certain human standing in the shadows, glaring at it with cold calculated eyes. Emerald had frozen at the sight of his eyes. The obnoxious squawks of the Terror Bird were all but blocked out as she watched him stalk up on it from the shadows. His stone stick raised as he slowly eased up on his prey, the Terror Bird on the far right, the closest one to him.

Then, he pounced.

The way he fought. The way he moved. He moved and fought like a raptor. Quick precise strikes and evasive maneuvers.

Emerald could only stare in awe as he incapacitated the bird with a devastating crack to the back of the head with his weapon before spinning around and meeting it with another strike across the side of its head.

Dazzling the creature for a brief moment, Kinslayer quickly pressed his lips together and created a sharp high pitched noise that made Emerald snap her head up instinctively in attention. She didn't know why she did this, she was a raptor. An Alpha Raptor! She did not take orders from a mere human!

Quickly lowering her head, she snarled at Kinslayer as he turned his head to look at her. Her snarl stopped short within her throat as her cold blue reptilian eyes meet his blazing gray eyes. He just... stared at her. He didn't say anything. He just stood there, watching her as a figure glided past him within the shadows.

The little-frilled creature erupted out of the shadows with an ear piercing screech. Latching onto one of the Terror Birds legs as it shook itself out of its daze, sinking his razor sharp teeth into its scaly shin.

The Terror Bird screamed in agony and bounced around the clearing, kicking its feet out in an attempt to shake off the sharped-toothed annoyance. Seizing the opportunity the small one's distraction gave, Kinslayer leaped onto the Terror Bird's back and pulled an object out of his chest and sliced the birds throat open, coating the bare dirt with dark red blood.

The Terror Bird gave a hoarse screech as it stomped around, flailing its tiny wings as dark red blood poured out of the wound on its neck like a roaring river. It then began to make an audible gurgling noise, blood trickling down the sides of its beak as it keeled over and fell onto the ground. Blood continued to flow from the open wound until the Terror Bird was surrounded by a pool of red. The bird gave a final dying gasp before choking on its own blood and falling still. Its eyes glazed over with the pale moon light reflecting off them.

That night, although she didn't want to admit it, Kinslayer had gained her respect. Not just for the way he fought but how he looked at her, a look that showed no fear.

That night, after the other humans had awoken from the commotion and found the slain Terror Bird, Kinslayer had made the decision to cook the former predator, even serving her a slap of the meat, uncooked of course.

But after that night, she could never forget the look in his eyes, for they were the eyes of a killer, a hunter of these lands. They held authority over her for a few short moments, and that frightened her.

No matter how small and insignificant those moments may be.

XXX

Several Days Later...

It has been several days since the Terror Bird had broken into the camp. James was standing outside of the camps walls, investigating the spot where the creature had managed to climb over the fortress walls.

Placing a hand on one of the many gashes engraved into the wood, he looked up along the eight-foot fence.

"Damn bastard must have climbed over the fence," James concluded, stepping back from the shredded wall. The Terror Bird had done minimal damage to the wall itself but a few certain residents here weren't so convinced. After the night he had killed the Terror Bird, Takagi and Rei had made it a point to up their defenses, and by point, more like chewed his ass out all night long.

He understood their concern about the situation but they didn't seem to grasp the concept that a bunch of girls and a handful of men weren't going to build an impenetrable fortress overnight. It takes time and a lot of resources. Resources that they're gonna have to go out and look for. In a jungle filled with ravenous carnivores.

Sighing inwardly, James walked around the side of the wall and back inside the camp, closing the large wooden doors behind him.

Walking through the front door, he found everyone standing inside the living room waiting for him.

"Well?" Takagi questioned.

James sighed, scratching the back of his head. "Yep, it climbed over the fence."

Takagi frowned, gripping her chin at this troubling bit of news. "Well, what do we do now?" Rei asked, apparently worried about the more uninvited guests. "You know you can't leave your walls undefended like this."

"And how do you suppose I fix it?" James walked past her into his weapons room, barely catching Takagi's response. "Get more wood and add to the foundation! You know how to build things, right?"

"Yea."

"Well, then we'll help you. Just get the materials and we'll handle the rest."

James grabbed the bridge of his nose and sighed. "It's not as easy as you may think. We'd have to go out into the jungle and cut down trees far enough away it won't uncover the camp for flyers to come in and attack. Not to mention running the risk of chopping down a tree and having it land on the fence or worse, the house!"

"Well, it's better than just sitting here waiting to get eaten." Takagi retorted.

James threw an irritated glare her way; he was starting to get slightly annoyed with pinkies opinionated ideas.

"Look, Takagi's right." Takashi stepped in, putting himself between Takagi and James. "We can't just sit around and wait until something else breaks in and decides to have one of us for lunch. We have to upgrade our defenses if we want to avoid a future attack."

"Look, Takashi," James started. "It took me a month just to get that fence up. By myself, I might add. And don't get me started with the house. I'll fix the walls, but it'll take some time."

"Not with a few extra hands!" Takashi smiled.

James stared at him for a moment before Rei volunteered next. "I'll go too."

"Same here," Saeko stood up from her chair at the table, smiling over at Takashi who returned the friendly gesture. With Rei, of course, glare at the two of them with fire in her eyes.

"Ok." James sighed. "But, I don't have very many tools so we're just gonna have to make do with what we have."

"Understood," Saeko nodded in acknowledgment.

"Alright," James declared, grabbing his pickaxe and spear from the shelf along with his hammer and bow. "Let's go."

After handing Takashi and the girls their weapons, they made their way out of the fortress. Leaving Shizuka, Takagi, Kohta, Alice, Zeke and Spit behind to look after the place.

XXX

After making their way down the trail, James and the others stopped. After taking a careful look of their surroundings, James looked over at the Takashi and gave a small nod. Takashi, having returned the nod, lifted his handmade axe and walked over to one of the trees lining the beaten trail and starting chopping away. James, along with the girls, kept his eyes locked on the dark jungle behind Takashi. It was late in the evening so that meant most of the islands carnivores would active around this time of day. Especially the more dangerous ones.

"James-san," Rei began, looking through the trees nervously as she heard a distant animal cry echo through the jungle. "S-Shouldn't you be helping Takashi cut down the tree?"

James looked over at her but didn't answer her, instead, he held his finger up to his lips and motioned his head towards the darkness within the jungle spotting two pairs of pupiless glowing yellow eyes.

Rei gulped, widening her eyes at the sight of the evil looking eyes which seemed to glare into her depths of her soul.

"What are those things?" Saeko asked, keeping her hand on her pickaxe as she narrowed her eyes at the unblinking glowing orbs.

"Troodons..." James whispered, keeping his eyes trained on the jungle surrounding them. "Quite possibly the smartest creatures on the island... and the deadliest."

"So these things are super smart basically?" Rei shivered, watching the creatures glance at each other before slowly making their way towards them. Their heads low to the ground as they sized up their prey up.

Rei backed away from the approaching creatures, a sense of primal fear welling up within her gut as she stared into the menacing yellow eyes.

"Whoa, hold up!" James said, stepping behind her, keeping her from running away. "These things will only give chase if you decide to run."

Rei looked up at him, her hazel eyes betraying the sense of terror she was feeling.

James simply smiled at her and took off his backpack. Fishing around within his bag before pulling out a small handheld torch.

"These things..." he grunted, holding the torch with his teeth as he pulled two rocks out of his backpack. "Are afraid of fire."

Grasping the torch in between his knees, James grasped both rocks firmly within his hands before striking them together over the end of the torch, creating a small spark of light with each strike.

After the third try, the torch ignited. Illuminating a majority of the area around them. The Troodons halted their approach, hissing and snapping their jaws at James as he walked towards them. He could faintly make out their slender saurian forms within the pitch black darkness of the jungle but he was well aware of what these creatures looked like and how they fought.

"Go on! Get out of here!' James hollered, swinging the torch at the Troodons. "Get!"

Both creatures snarled at him angrily before turning tail and retreating into the jungle. Their hurried footsteps and shrill cries gradually merging with the song of the jungle until everything went quiet.

Only the sound of chirping insects and the distant bellowing of a distressed herbivore could be heard as James gave a shaky sigh of relief.

"Ok, they're gone now."

Takashi, who had stopped chopping at the tree when Rei had caught sight of the creatures, kept his eyes trained amongst the motionless foliage that might house another nocturnal carnivore.

"You think they'll come back?" he asked wearily.

"They always do..." James grunted, turning to the other. "Ok let's get this tree cut and-" he suddenly paused, hearing the spin chilling noise of a twig snapping. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end, his heart was pounding within his chest as the sound echoed through the silent, still jungle.

Everyone was silent. No dared to speak as James continued to stare into the jungle. Rei felt a hint of concern rising within her as James once confident and assuring composure quickly tensed up with fear.

Throwing the torch on the ground, James quickly began to stomp the fire out. Rei opened her mouth to ask why he had put out their only means of fending off the menacing creatures of the night but instead gave a muffled cry of surprise as James clasped his hand over her mouth.

"Shhh!" he hushed, keeping his hand over her mouth. Another sickening snap came from the depths of the jungle prompting the young castaway to glance back at the looming jungle before turning to the others and holding his finger up to his lips.

Takashi and Saeko looked at each other questioningly before lifting their heads at the sound of another twig snapping. Followed by what sounded like heavy footsteps.

Rei's hazel eyes widened fearfully at the sounds echoing around her. Her ears couldn't pinpoint the exact location of where the noise was coming from. She gasped quietly when James suddenly wrapped his arm around her and whispered, "We need to move!"

Suddenly, the noises stopped.

Everyone was dead quiet. No one dared to utter a sound as a low, guttural snarl came from the jungle shadows behind them followed by a hiss and another snarl.

James's eyes darted around the trees as he tried to locate the source of the snarls. Then, upon seeing the faint outline of a human shape within the trees, he came to a frightening realization. Whirling around, he shoved the others towards the path leading back to the house and shouted, "Run!"

Suddenly, they were cut off by a dark gray Carnotaurus with a saddle on its muscular back and a grizzled burly man seated atop of the beast.

"Shit!" James cursed, grabbing Rei's hand and dashing another way. "This way!"

However, their next escape route was blocked by another man atop a dark red raptor with pitch black feathers atop its head and back. The man on top of the raptor cackled hysterically. "Where do you think you're going beautiful?!" he asked, referring to Rei.

Rei hid behind James as several more men riding Carno's, Raptors and Terror Birds erupted from the jungle. Quickly surrounding them.

James gritted his teeth, this was bad. He recognized this unsavory group of men and their battle-scarred mounts. They were a tribe of raiders that claimed the southern mountains as their home turf. But this didn't make any sense. These guys were never known to come this far north.

James frowned, his eyebrows and glared into a gap between a rider riding a raptor and another on a bright blue terror bird as a large pitch black Carnotaurus, covered with numerous fading scars, stomped through the trees towards them.

"Well, well, well." the man aboard the black carnotaurus rasped. A creepy smile stretched across his weathered face. "What do we have here? Long time no see, James!"

James frowned at the man, glancing to the side as him and his lackeys and their dinosaurs began to circle them. "What the hell are you and your gang doing out here this far north, Leonidas? You do realize that this is Broken Toe territory and not the Southern Raiders?"

"And?" Leonidas scoffed, jeering his Carno forward so he was towering directly over James and the others. "Do you think those Broken Toe scum are gonna do anything to stop us? Besides," he grinned wickedly, turning his gaze over to Rei and Saeko who eyed him and his men wearily. "When one of my men reported back about you holding a harem of fine young women with you at that little shack of yours. Well... I just couldn't help myself."

Rei and Saeko shivered at the last rather suggestive part of Leonidas' sentence, finding it revolting to even find themselves in the company of such a man, let alone be hit on by him.

Leonidas frowned at their disgusted expressions. "Come now, there's no need to act like that. I assure you, I'd treat each of you with the utmost care and..." he paused, purring, "I'd show you how a _real_ man should treat a woman."

James had heard enough. Drawing his hammer, he placed himself between Takashi and the girls and Leonidas. "That ain't going to happen, Leonidas!"

"Oh?" Leonidas laughed mockingly, his men laughed with him. Gauffing at the young man and urging their dinosaurs forward, closing in on the young man.

"You know, kid," Leonidas growled, ceasing his laughing. His calm arrogant gaze replaced by a cold murderous glare. "The Broken Toe tribe speak pretty highly about you. Especially that general we recently captured. She was quite fond of you but... she eventually broke and confessed to your whereabouts."

James was taken aback by this comment. He gritted his teeth and slammed his hammer against a neighboring tree angrily. "Where's Ren?!"

Leonidas chuckled, his Carnotaurus snarled menacingly at James but the angry young man paid no mind to the creature's threat.

"She's safe but I'm afraid it's up to Crios to decide if she lives or dies!"

"Where is she?" James demanded, taking a threatening step toward him. "You will tell me, or I'll-!"

"Or you'll what?" Leonidas challenged, cutting him off. "Kill me? That's a little easier said than done little boy. You see, we kind of have you at a disadvantage. There's twelve of us, and only one little old you, a couple of little girls and a toothpick to back you up!"

"Hey!" Takashi exclaimed, offended by Leonidas' skinny remark.

James clenched his teeth. Leonidas was right. He was out manned and out gunned. His only option now was to escape and get the others out here.

"Kill the boys but let the women live. Once that's done, find their base and destroy it. Report back to me when you're finished." Leonidas ordered, turning his Carnotaurus around. "And boys, don't have too much fun with the women until you get back."

"Hehe, yes sir!" the scraggly man to his right side cackled, grinning ear to ear as he urged his Sabretooth forward.

James watched as Leonidas and his Carnotaurus disappeared into the jungle, his mounts thunderous footsteps echoing through the still jungle as his men and their creatures began to close in.

"Alright boy's, you heard Leonidas! Kill the two boys but leave the girls alive!" the man on the Sabretooth ordered, reaching behind his back and drawing what appeared to be a katana.

Saeko's eyes widened at the sight of the familiar blade, "My sword!"

The man stopped his approach, glancing down at the sword in his hand and smirked. "Oh, you mean this little trinket? I found it on the beach not far from here. Thought I might put it to good use seeing as it was doin' nothin' but rustin' on the shore and getting crapped on by Dodo's!"

"Uh, I think we have more to worry about than just your sword!" Rei whimpered, looking around at the men and their snarling creatures fearfully.

James frowned, glancing around amongst the horde of men and creatures, looking for an escape route. Seeing a gap in between two riders and their raptors, James withdrew his gaze from them and focused on the man atop the Sabretooth as he cackled wickedly.

"What's the matter, boy? Where'd all that bravado go? Just a few moment's ago you were talkin' bout how you were going to kill ol' Leonidas cuz he's holding your lil girlfriend hostage. Don't worry though; he's treatin' her real good."

James frowned at the crooked man, backing away from his Sabretooth as it snarled and took a swipe at him with its long retractable claws.

Glancing back at the two raptor riders, James backed away a couple of more steps, aligning the man's Sabretooth with his men's raptors.

"James-san," he felt Rei rest herself against his back. "I'm scared."

"Don't be," James whispered, glaring at the man seated on the Sabretooth as he spat. "Such brave last words for someone who's going to die!"

The man's Sabretooth roared and lunged at them. It's two long razor sharp fangs parted to scissor off one of his limbs. Pushing Rei out of the way, James spun around and slammed the end of his hammer into the side of the Sabertooth's head, staggering the creature and its rider who swore out loud into the two raptor riders, causing all three rides and their riders to fall onto the ground.

"Run!" James yelled, grabbing Rei's hand and leading her over the three snarling and snapping creatures with Takashi and Saeko following right behind them.

"After em!" the Sabretooth rider called. Pinned under the girth of his Sabretooth and the thrashing body of his comrades Utahraptor, he struggled to get free.

Following his orders, the remaining man and their mounts gave chase, stampeding through the thick jungle terrain after their fleeing quarry.

XXX

"Come on! Keep moving!" James yelled, hearing the rapid footsteps and angry swears of the men and their tailing mounts.

"James, we can't see anything! It's too dark!" Rei cried, trying her best to keep up with him. She suddenly tripped over a fallen log and landed with a sickening thud, giving an audible cry of pain.

"Rei!?" Takashi called, running up to help her up.

"Ow, ow, ow!" Rei whimpered, holding her injured leg.

James tried to help her up but decided against it once he saw the bright glare of a torch begin to light up the jungle behind them. Hooking his arms under her knees and steadying her back against the other one, he lifted Rei off the ground.

"James-?!" Rei began but was cut off by a distant raptor roar and it's riders voice as he hollered. "They went this way!"

"Come on!" James took off into the jungle will carrying Rei in his arms looking back to make sure he didn't lose Takashi or Saeko as he erupted out of the jungle ferns.

"James, look!" Rei panted, pointing over his shoulder at the dirt path to his right. "There's the way back!"

James panted heavily as he looked behind him to see Takashi and Saeko stumble out of the brush behind him. Covered in dirt and sweat and panting heavily as they looked back at the jungle behind him, hearing the men and their creatures not far behind.

"Shit!" Takashi hissed, clenching his teeth at the sight of a torch once again begin to illuminate the jungle behind them.

"Move!" James grunted, running past them up the beaten path. "We need to get Shizuka, Kohta, Takagi and Alice out of here!"

After what felt like an hour of running, they could see the small wooden gates standing ahead of them.

"There it is!" Takashi called.

Sighing a collective sigh of relief at the sight of his base in one piece, James slowed his gait and stopped at the front of the gate, motioning over at Takashi.

"Open the doors, quickly!"

Running up to the door, Takashi snatched the doors open and allowed James, Rei and Saeko in first before swiftly shutting the doors behind them and dashing after them into the house.

Kicking the door open, James carried Rei inside and found Shizuka, Kohta, Takagi, and Alice sitting at the table with bewildered looks on their face.

"James-san?! What's-?" Takagi started.

"We need to leave!" James quickly said, cutting Takagi off. "We're being attacked by raiders!"

"W-What?" Takagi stammered, as Kohta got up from his chair, concern apparent on his face as James sat Rei at the end of the table.

"Shizuka, Rei injured herself when we were ambushed. I need you to treat her wounds while I, Takashi, Saeko and Kohta grab the essentials and get the hell out of here!"

Shizuka's mind was in a daze after being fed so much information at once but quickly went over to Rei and checked her wounds.

James looked over at Takagi and Alice, grunting. "Stay here!"

They nodded. Takagi told Alice to come over to her as James whistled sharply. "Spit!"

The tiny dilophosaurus, who was lying under the table next to Zeke, ran up to him. "Guard the door."

Trilling in acknowledgment, Spit unfurled his colorful frill and stood guard at the door. His reptilian eyes narrowed at the gate outside as James stepped past him.

"Takashi, I want you and Saeko to clear the medicine cabinet." the two boys nodded and immediately ran over to the small wooden cabinet, beginning to pull out everything that was inside. Kohta pulled out a jar full of bright orange liquid and reached in to grab something else only to withdraw his hand at the sight of a bowl of looking berries.

"Come on, Hirano!" Takashi said, setting another jar aside.

Leaving the boys to their task, James turned to Saeko. "Saeko, I have a few extra backpacks in my room upstairs. Grab them and help the guys fill them up."

"On it!" Saeko nodded, dashing upstairs.

Staring after the young swordswoman's retreating form, James frowned and ran around the side of the house.

Emerald, who was still within her cage, lifted her head in surprise as she saw James running towards her, seeing the look of fear in his eyes and hearing his heart pounding within his chest.

"Guess our time together is over, Emerald," James said, undoing one of the strands of hide keeping her cage together.

Emerald could only stare at him questioningly as he continued to take apart her cage. She didn't quite understand what was going on. Then, she heard something. She turned her head to the wall behind her and snarled.

James, hearing Emerald snarl, looked up from what he was doing. He heard a twig snap and he drew his hammer. Stepping away from Emeralds cage he kept his eyes on the wall as a low growl came from behind it.

Suddenly, something leaped over the wall and landed on him with tremendous force. Whatever it was, it was big, hairy, and strong.

"Gahhh!" James cried out in pain, feeling the hard ground beneath his back as whatever it was on top of him pinning him to the ground. He held a set of two long dagger-like fangs at bay from his throat as a jet black Sabretooth snapped his jaws at him. Its fiery green eyes glared into his soul as he held its head back with his hammer, pressing the handle against its muscular throat to keep it back.

"Ha! Give up boy!" hissed the man atop the Sabretooth, bringing his head around to look down at him crazily. "There ain't no way you're gonna get out of my Saber's jaws in one piece!"

James felt his strength quickly begin to wane against the creature's inhuman strength. He could only hold it back for so long!

Suddenly, the Saber gave a yelp of pain and suddenly jerked backward forcefully.

"What in the hell?!" the man cried as Emerald, who had broken free from her cage, bit down on the Sabertooth's hind leg and slammed it onto the ground, knocking the man off its back as she proceeded to wrestle with the vicious big cat.

James was stunned. Emerald had come to his rescue. Hearing a feeble groan, James looked over to see the man that had been riding the Sabretooth getting to his feet after having been dismounted by the ferocious female raptor.

Recovering from his astonishment, James quickly got up and dashed over at the man. He delivered a swift uppercut to the jaw before finishing the job with a blow to the side of his head with his hammer.

Letting the man's body fall limply to the ground, James turned and watched as Emerald combated with the Sabretooth. She snarled viciously at the big cat, dodging a swipe intended to slice her throat with its long retractable claws.

Dodging another swipe with its claws, Emerald slammed into the cat's side and began to shred it with her long hooked toe claws and clamped down on the back of its neck, sinking her many long needle sharp teeth into its neck.

The Sabretooth gave a hoarse cry of pain and tried to buck the female raptor of its back, but she would not relent. She continued to drive her claws into the Saber and slice until the ground was surrounded by a pool of blood.

Finally, after several more minutes of struggling to throw the female raptor clamped onto its back off, the Sabretooth staggered around clumsily. It buckled under the weight of the female raptor and fell forward, landing in the puddle of its own blood and mud.

James could only stare in astonishment as Emerald released her death grip on the creature's throat and got up. She lifted her blood stained snout up and stared at James, her cold reptilian eyes meeting his.

She stared at him for a long quiet moment before looking up at the wall and back at him. Then, she ran up to the wall and jumped over it with one leap.

James stared at the spot he had seen her disappear behind. He was shocked that Emerald had saved his life and let him go. Even though she tried to kill him within her cage! Looking down at the dead Sabretooth then over at the fallen man, James walked over to the man's limp body. He had remembered Saeko saying something about having a sword and that the man had found one.

Sure enough, after rolling the man's body over, he found the sword. It was a katana that resided in an elegantly designed dark red sheath with a wrapped handle and a shimmering brass handle guard.

James was in slight awe at the sight of the sword but withdrew his attention from the blade when he heard Takashi call. "James, we're ready!"

Glancing back at the spot where he had seen Emerald disappear one last time, James sheathed his hammer and ran around the side of the house, meeting up with Takashi and the others.

"Dude, what took you so long?" Takashi questioned.

"Nothing major," James replied, waving his hand dismissively as he stepped up to Saeko. "I believe this belongs to you?"

"M-My sword?" Saeko stammered, shocked at the sight of her blade. "But, how did you get it back?"

"I was attacked by the guy on the Saber when I went to turn Emerald loose," James answered, grabbing one of the backpacks Kohta was carrying as he handed one to him.

Saeko looked up from her sword, narrowing her eyes, "And what of the man that had my sword?"

James was silent for a moment, he glanced over at Alice who held Zeke in one arm and had the other around Spit's neck as she looked up at him in fear of what was going on. He muttered quietly, "I took care of him."

Saeko glanced down at Alice, then looked back at him and nodded. Realizing what he had meant. "I understand... thank you James-kun."

James returned the nod, walking over to Shizuka who was supporting Rei with one of her arms thrown around her shoulders.

"You ok, Rei?" James asked, seeing the piece of cloth wrapped around her shin.

"She'll be ok, but she sprang her ankle." Shizuka reported, answering for the young woman.

"I'll take her off your hands." James offered.

"I'm ok James-chan, really- kahhh!" Rei cried out when James suddenly picked her up and bridal carried her.

"Ok, let's get moving," James said, leading the others out of the gate and into the jungle on the left-hand side of the beaten path. Walking through the maze of trees, watching where he stepped as he led the others through the dark and treacherous jungle.

However, he suddenly stopped.

"James-chan?" Rei asked questioningly.

He sniffed the air, widening his eyes at the familiar scent of something burning. Whirling around, and ignoring Rei's questioning gasp, he looked up at the sky to see a massive plume of black smoke.

The others looked at him questioningly before following his gaze and widening her eyes.

"Oh man," Kohta whispered, looking over at James who continued to stare up at the plume of smoke darkening the sky.

"James-chan..." Rei rested a hand on his shoulder.

James could only close his eyes and sigh heavily. That was his home. He had built it with his own two hands. But, now he was forced to run and hide in the jungle because of those damn raiders!

"Come on, we can't stay here," James said, moving the group in the direction away from the house.

"But, where are we going?" Takashi asked, following close behind him.

"I've got some friend's that'll help us. Maybe even give us some answers to what's going on."

"Who are these 'friend's that'll help us?" Takagi asked.

"The Broken Toe Tribe. The Tribe that originally took me in."


	6. Chapter 5

Hello, and welcome to another chapter of Ark Survival Evolved HOTD crossover. As usual, I don't own HOTD or Ark Survival Evolved. Now please, enjoy yourselves, review, favorite and follow.

Special Thanks to Draco38 as my beta reader.

Chapter 5 One of Us

James sighed heavily. Wiping a bead of sweat from his brow, he took a sip of water from his waterskin. Drinking greedily until the container was half empty. He placed the waterskin back in his backpack and turned to the others, who were resting beside him within the shades of the trees.

They had been walking for days. With little food or water to sustain their rather large traveling party. They stuck to the edge of the jungle to avoid the large predators that called the center most part of the jungle home. Traveling from dawn until dusk, when most of the islands more dangerous carnivores were less active, and finding a safe place to sleep during the night.

Walking over to one of the trees the group was sitting under, James took a seat next to Takashi who growl in annoyance at a mosquito's buzzing in front of his face.

"Damn bugs!" he growled, clapping his hands over the flying pest and killing it.

Paying no mind to the young teen's annoyance to insects, James relaxed and leaned his back against a palm tree and closed his eyes.

"We'll rest here for a few minutes before we get moving again."

"James, we can't keep going like this. Especially in the heat of the day!" Takagi groaned, waving a large palm tree leaf against her face in an effort to cool herself down. "If we keep going, we'll collapse from hunger or die of thirst."

"And Miyamoto's wound might become infected as well. She needs rest." Shizuka added. Sitting beside Rei, who moaned feverishly while resting her head against the busty nurse's shoulder.

James opened his eyes and looked over at Rei, particularly at the sweaty cloth wrapped tightly around her ankle. Shizuka was right; if they kept going at this pace Rei's injury would most likely become infected. But, if they didn't keep moving then their presence would most likely draw the attention of a large carnivore... or an unfriendly tribe.

"Alright, we'll camp here for tonight," James declared, rising to his feet. "However, we'll need to get moving in a few days. We don't want to draw attention to ourselves from the massive carnivores roaming through these jungles."

"Or the raiders that attacked us a few days ago," Takagi added.

James frowned at the mention of the raiders. "Yea, that too," he muttered, walking away.

Takagi stared after him with a raised eyebrow, "What's his problem?"

Suddenly, she felt someone jab her in the side with their elbow, making the pink haired genius exclaim out loud.

"Maybe it's the fact he just lost his home to those cretins and is now forced to flee from the only place he called sanctuary!" Saeko hissed in her ear.

Takagi glared bloody daggers at the swordswoman while rubbing her sore ribs but didn't press the issue any further.

XXX

Later that day, while the sun was setting, everyone was sitting around a small campfire. Huddled together to keep themselves warm as the cold wind blew through the trees overhead.

James sat by himself at the end of a log he had dragged up for everyone to sit on, sharpening the end of a long stick to a fine point with his knife. Blowing some of the wood shavings off his new weapon, he held the spear up and turned it to see if he had forgotten to polish out any grooves or curves along the wooden handle.

Satisfied with his work, James got up and walked over to Rei, who was busy pulling the knots out of her long silky chestnut hair. She stopped when he sat down beside her, handing it to her handle first.

"Here you go," James said, giving her the spear.

"Oh, thanks," Rei smiled, dipping her head politely.

James returned the smile, pointing at her injured leg, "How's your leg holding up?"

"It's a little sore but it's not as bad as it was a couple days ago," Rei replied, massaging her foot. Looking down at her feet, an apparent blush appeared on her face as she remembered how he had saved them from the raiders and their pets.

She was so scared when they had appeared. To be honest, it scared her more to see him so terrified. He was so different when he had to face the raptors. He showed no fear.

However, this time was different.

He had been genuinely terrified. But, that all changed when that horrible man, Leonidas, said something about having captured a girl named Ren. After that he became angry and vicious.

But, somehow, he kept his cool during the situation, even figuring a way out of their seemingly inescapable situation.

His strength, both physically and mentally, was admirable. Even when everything seems so hopeless, he managed to pull them through. Not to mention, he possessed great leadership skills. Hell, even Takashi has followed his lead without even knowing it.

She sneaked a glance over at the young castaway sitting by her side, adding more wood to the fire to keep it going.

"Hey, James-chan... who's Ren?"

James froze, lowering the piece of wood he had in his hand. He looked over at Rei and stared at her. Rei shuffled her feet nervously at the blank stare he was giving her, then he lowered his gaze. His eyes suddenly becoming hollow and filled with sadness.

"She was... a good friend," he muttered. Dropping the piece of wood into the fire before turning around and walking past her to the pile of backpacks lying at the end of the log.

She would have kicked herself if she could! She should have known better to bring up somebody that was recently kidnapped by the likes of those men!

The grim atmosphere quickly changed once the rumbling of everyone's stomach's started rumbling.

"Oh, man," Kohta whimpered. Wincing as his gut gave another growled. "I'm so hungry!"

"Yea, me too!" Takashi agreed, feeling the empty pit within his stomach.

Takagi tried to keep her cool while holding a disgusted glare at the two boys sitting beside her but lowered her gaze shamefully as her stomach gave a small gurgle.

"Please tell me we still have some berries to eat?" Shizuka whined, rubbing her stomach in an attempt to ease her growing hunger pains.

James flipped the bag open and shook it out, only to have two empty jars, and a few wrinkled waterskins fall out. "Well," James sighed, setting the backpack down. "Looks like we're all out of berries."

"Oh no!" Shizuka whined, again.

"Great, we have no food, no water, and we're practically sitting ducks in the middle of this jungle." Takagi went over, leaning back in her seat. "Now what do we do?"

James sighed, looking up at the shimmering full moon shining overhead. He could go out and try to catch something for them to eat. But, there were terrible night predator's stalking through these jungles as well.

And there are things out there much bigger than a Troodon that called the darkness its mistress.

Before he could come to a conclusion to their hunger situation, a dying animal cry sounded in the distance. Making everyone lift their heads in alarm at the eerie, hair-raising sound.

"W-What was that?" Alice asked fearfully, hugging Zeke closer to her as Spit placed himself between her and the direction of the noise.

"Sounds like something became something else's dinner tonight," James said, relaxing a little.

"Lucky it!" Saeko muttered, her hunger growing at the mere mention of food.

Suddenly, they heard a loud _snap_!

As James stiffened, he instinctively drew his weapon and scanned the area around them. Another _snap_ came from behind a set of ferns on the opposite side of the campsite. Prompting Saeko to draw her sword and rose from her seat.

James held his hand up, halting the swordswoman. Saeko paused but kept her gaze trained on the line of ferns in front of her as they began to thrash violently, keeping a close eye on James' back in case she needed to cover his retreat if whatever it was hiding in the bushes decided to attack.

James silently made his way over towards the thrashing ferns, readying his weapon as he peered through the foliage.

Yanking the leafy ferns aside, he drew his hammer back. He froze, a look of surprise apparent on his face as he stepped away from the bush and lowered his weapon.

"James-chan, what is it?" Rei question, tilting her head to look around his broad shoulders.

Laying before him in a gory mess was a deceased Parasaur with several bloody gashes across its large body. Its body was mostly intact, but its head looked as if it had been put through a meat grinder and its jugular had been torn out.

James could only stare at the mutilated body in silence as the others gathered around him, curious to see what he was staring at.

"What... is that thing?" Takagi asked, covering her mouth with her hand in an attempt to keep herself from losing the contents of her stomach.

"That was _once_ a Parasaur," James answered, walking up to the mangled corpse. "And, now it's our dinner."

XXX

After cutting a few chunks of meat off the flanks of the creature's corpse, James and the other were now seated around the fire. Waiting patiently for everyone's meat to be cooked thoroughly as James slowly turned the makeshift spit he made from three tree branches and a tangle of vines.

Once the meat had been cooked, everyone devoured their food, relishing the rich flavor of the meat.

"Oh, wow!" Takashi mumbled with a mouth full of steak.

"This is amazing!" Shizuka complimented, taking another bite of her food.

"It tastes great!' Alice said happily, nibbling contently on her piece of meat. Pulling a small chunk off for Spit, then Zeke who wolfed their food down and resorted to begging from Alice to get seconds.

James chuckled, pulling his piece of meat in two and halving one of the smaller pieces. Tossing one piece to Spit and giving the other to Zeke.

Rei lifted her eyebrows at the small portion James was eating, "That's all you're going to eat?"

Downing the piece of meat in two bites, James wiped a drop of grease from his chin and smiled at the spear wielder.

"No need to worry about me. I can go a few days without eating." James assured, getting up from his spot by the fire. "Besides, we still have a day's worth of meat to go through so eat your fill."

While the others continued to eat, Kohta paused in between bites and glanced over at the butchered Parasuar as James walked up to it and started cutting several chunks from its flanks and placing the dripping pieces of flesh into each of the backpacks.

"This was a lucky break. You know, with that duck bill creature getting wounded and practically serving itself on a silver platter for us."

"Nah, I don't think that's the case," James said, dismissively. Pointing over at a trail behind the creature's corpse leading into the jungle. "This thing was already dead when it came here. Something dragged it through the jungle and left it here."

Takagi froze in mid-bite and looked at James incredulously, "What kind of creature just kills something then drags it and just leaves it?"

"It was Emerald," James grunted, stuffing a cut of the creature's ribs into one of the backpacks. "She's been following us for a few days now."

Everyone widened their eyes at the news of the formerly captive female raptor, who had struck fear into their hearts even from within the confines of her cage, who was now running loose.

And was now, apparently, following them!

"H-How do you know?" Rei stammered, looking back at the dark eerie jungle behind her, fearing that the female raptor might decide to pounce on them while their backs were turned.

"I spotted some of her footprints not too far back. She must have been scouting the area for prey before falling back and continuing to follow us." James explained, carrying the three backpacks over to the fire and setting them aside and taking a seat beside Takashi.

"You think she'll attack us?" Takashi frowned, feeling a little uneasy with the thought of the vengeful female raptor running free.

"Why would she give us food then turn around and attack us?" James asked, rhetorically. "She saved my life back at the base when the man and his Saber caught me off guard. She could have easily ended my life if she wanted to! But... she didn't."

Everyone looked at each other before looking back at James, who lifted his gaze up to the moon which shined brightly against the starlit sky.

"She saved my life," James muttered, quietly. "Even after I killed her pack and left her to die when I first got here." He looked over at Rei, who stared at him quietly as he added. "And raptors never forget..."

Once everyone had eaten their fill, James pulled several ferns out of the ground and laid them out in a pile of seven, each serving as a makeshift bed for one person.

However, there were a few exceptions.

Alice chose to curl up with Shizuka holding Zeke in her arms while Spit chose to sleep at Shizuka's back, choosing to avoid her large bust which didn't seem to bother Alice. However, it seemed Zeke got the raw end of the deal. Becoming sandwiched between to two oversized melons and could only whine pitifully at his limited leg room.

Saeko was resting beside Takashi, placing her hands against his rising chest while the latter breathed against her forehead softly.

Kohta tried to sleep close to Takagi, but could only manage a mere three feet before receiving a death threat from the young pink haired genius.

James smiled at the group of slumbering teens. Lifting an eyebrow at a sleeping Rei, who had decided to sleep in _his_ patch of ferns for tonight.

He also couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt for getting them into this mess. He had been told about how difficult it was for them to survive back in their world, literally having no place to go for the night sometimes and constantly having to watch their backs whenever they did find a safe place to stay for the night. And now here they were, without a roof over their heads to keep them safe from the elements... and hungry predators. He was even told how horrifying the undead were on several occasions.

However, the undead couldn't even compare to the threat's Ark could throw at you.

He didn't even know where to begin on their quest to get them home. Back to their families and back to... their world.

Their world. He chuckled at the thought of it. It was his world as well. But, at the same time, it wasn't, not anymore. _This_ was his world. Ark.

This was where he belonged. Not in a world ruled by the undead.

Lying down on the padded ground beside Rei, he gazed up at the stars and came to a revelation. He was going to help them find their way back home. But first, they had to reach the Broken Toe tribe and get some answers... and rescue Ren.

And with that in mind, he closed his eyes and drifted away into sleep. Unaware of a pair of gleaming blue reptilian eyes staring down at him from the tree line at his back, watching over him closely while he slumbered.

XXX

James opened his eyes. Groaning, he groggily sat up in his leafy bed and stretched his arms. He had woken up a few times to scout the area for any raiders or predators. It was a habit he had developed ever since he arrived on Ark as the night time carried far more dangers than the day time.

But, other than that though, he slept fairly well last night.

Looking around the campsite, he could see everyone else fast asleep. Takashi and Saeko were curled up together, one holding the other in their arms all while muttering in their sleep.

Shizuka stirred in her dreams, holding a rather content dilophosaurus close to her with a small white dog sandwiched between them. Spit trilled happily in his dreams, kicking his feet out as if he were chasing fleeing prey. Obviously, he was dreaming about hunting.

Zeke, however, wasn't the least bit impressed with his current position. He looked up at James from in between Shizuka's breasts and Spit's back and gave a pitiful whimper that basically said, 'Please, help me!'

Chuckling at the little dog's plea for help, James moved to get up but stopped, feeling something tighten itself around his waist. Looking down questioningly, James lifted an eyebrow at the sight of Rei with both her arms wrapped around him and her head in his stomach. Her hair was a mess and she had a small trail of drool trickling down the side of her mouth.

James glanced around nervously before tapping her shoulder, "Uh, Rei?"

Her face contorted prompting her to bring a hand up and slap his hand away. "Mmm... leave me alone..." she groaned, rubbing her cheek against his stomach.

James rolled his eyes, grabbing her shoulder and shaking her, "Wake up!"

"Huh, what?" she opened her eyes. Lifting her head off his abdomen, she searched the campsite with half lid hazel eyes to figure out who woke her from her slumber then lifted her eyes up lazily.

She widened her eyes.

"Morning," James greeted. "Mind letting go?" he pointed down at her arms which were locked around his waist possessively.

Following his finger down, she gasped and immediately released him. "S-Sorry!" she stuttered, holding her hands up to her chest and refusing to meet his gaze, trying to keep her blush under control.

James raised an eyebrow at the chestnut hair girl but didn't push the situation any further. Instead, he got up from his bed and popped his back. Groaning in relief as his tired bones and numb muscles began to wake up.

Smacking his dry lips, he started over towards the three backpacks rested beside Takashi and Saeko's sleeping forms but stopped. Looking down at Takashi and Saeko, he came to a sudden realization and glanced over at Shizuka who muttered contently within her dreams while holding both Spit and Zeke in her arms. He then noticed the empty space in the middle of her where a certain little girl was supposed to be.

"Where's, Alice?" James questioned, raising his voice.

Takashi stirred in his sleep and lifted his head, a piece of fern sticking to his spiky head as he looked up at James sleepily, "Wha...?"

"Alice isn't here!" he said, looking around the campsite urgently. "Alice?!" he called. Takashi was instantly awake, widening his eyes. He looked around the campsite quickly before getting to his feet. "Alice?!" Takashi hollered, awakening Saeko.

"Takashi-?" the young swordswoman began.

"Alice is missing!" Takashi said quickly, cutting her off.

"What?" Saeko was instantly on her feet. Looking around the campsite, trying to locate the little girl, widening her eyes in alarm.

"Alice!"

Takagi snarled angrily having been awoken from her sleep by James as the young castaway ran past her to into the jungle behind them.

"What's with all this racket?"

"Alice is gone!" Takashi said, answering for James.

"What?!"

While Takashi was busy trying to explain their current situation to Takagi, who was only a second away from striking into the jungle after the young girl, James looked down at his feet and saw something in the dirt.

Getting down on one knee to get a closer look he realized his was a small shoe print which led to another, then another. Following each little footprint with his eyes, he could see them leading out of the camp down a pathway beaten through the brush into the jungle.

"Guys! I got prints!" James called, taking off into the jungle. "Gather the supplies and follow me and hurry!"

"What? James-?" Takashi called but his voice faded away as James quickly put some distance between him and the others. Shoving tree branches out of his face, he sprinted down the tiny carved path through the brush.

Erupting out of bushes, James found himself in an open rocky clearing. Looking at the looming jungle behind he frown his eyebrows questioningly and looked back at the open clearing. Suddenly realizing he wasn't in a wide open field but a cliff!

Walking up to the edge of the cliff cautiously, James widened his eyes at the sight below him. A sea of coniferous trees for as far as the eye could see and below him just at the base of the cliff he could see the murky algae filled waters of the bog before him.

He had made it to the swamp. They were a fraction of the way there! To the Northern Mountains and the Broken Toe tribe!

James couldn't help but stare in awe across the ocean of green as his eyes rested on a pinnacle mountaintop in the distance. He frowned; they still had a long way to go. Weeks if not months of traveling! Through hungry predators, marauding raiders, and disease infected swamps as well as the merciless northern cold.

It was going to be a long and difficult journey but one that he must take in order to get some answers... and save Ren.

His thoughts were suddenly severed when he heard a familiar cry for help below him, within the swamp.

"Alice!?" James called, looking around for a way down. Seeing a narrow pathway leading down the face of the cliff, James scrambled down and landed on the muddy beach bordering the swamp from the rocky face of the cliff.

"Alice?!" James called again, peering into the swamp.

"Over here!" he heard her cry, plunging into the murky waters without hesitation. Maneuvering his way through the maze of coniferous tree roots in waist deep water as another scream tore through the sky followed by a loud hiss.

"Alice?!" James yelled, finally making it to a nearby bank sheltered by a wall of thick roots and trees.

"James-onii-san!"

Alice was huddled in a crevice between two large boulders, looking up in terror at a massive snake that was striking the boulders shielding her from its jaws. The snake was a Titanoboa. These gigantic snakes are roughly three raptors long and had a patterned sea green scaly hide as well as a Dilophosaur like frill.

Alice cried in terror as the creature continued to strike the boulders with its opened jaws, trying to sink its many long sharp fangs into her soft flesh but only succeeded in chipping away at the entrance to her hiding spot.

"Help, onii-san!" Alice bawled as the snake managed to fit its large frilled head into the small opening. Hissing menacingly at the young girl while slowly opening its jaws to reveal several sets of needle sharp fangs.

Running up to the end of the snake, James grabbed the creature's tail and gave a forceful pull. Managing to yank the large snake away from the little girl as its jaws came down with a sickening snap, biting down on nothing but empty air.

Pulling the large and heavy snake away from Alice, James exclaimed out loud as the Titanoboa suddenly turned its attention over to him now. Whirling its serpentine body around, the massive serpent struck lightning fast. Jumping sideways, the young castaway ducked under another lethal strike meant to entangle him in the serpent's merciless jaws which would quickly be followed by a slow painful death in the creature's muscular coils as it was a constrictor.

Meaning it strangled its prey to death. Not to mention it had venom which induces a narcotic like effect allowing it to render its prey unconscious. Allowing it to eat its prey alive!

Dodging another strike, James yanked his hammer from his hip and clocked the creature in the back of the skull. Momentarily stunning it before he slammed his hammer into the side of its head, knocking the creatures head aside to give him passage to Alice.

"Alice! Come on!" James hollered, running over to child's hiding place only to grunt in pain as the Titanoboa slammed its long tail into his ribs. Rolling through the dirt.

"Ah, fuck!" Rolling through the dirt James coughed, his head was spinning and it felt like his inside had just been tenderized by a sledgehammer!

"James-onii-san!" Alice cried, emerging from her hiding hole, running up to the injured cast away.

"Alice, run!" he growled, trying to get to his feet with the little girl's help as the snake slowly slithered up to them. Lifting the entire front end of its body up and unfurling its vibrant frill, preparing to strike the final blow.

All James could do was force Alice behind him and prepare for the creature's final strike but froze when he heard a roar above them. Looking up, he saw a blinding green flash rush over them and slam into the giant snake. Effectively knocking it backward as the creature stood between it and James and Alice.

It was Emerald.

James was astonished and relieved. Astonished by the fact she followed him here and relieved that she was her!

The female raptor stood her ground against the serpentine aggressor, growling viciously at the much larger snake which simply returned the threatening gesture with a spine-chilling hiss.

The Titanoboa did not hesitate to strike first but Emerald was faster and dodged out of the way of the snake's venomous maw and stood behind it. Hiding in its blind spot as the snake lifted his head and began to search for the female raptor. Turing its head to the right, Emerald moved her body to the right to keep out of its vision. Doing the same as it jerked its head to the left.

Once the snake lowered its guard and focused its attention back on James, she struck. Latching onto the snake's throat, she held on for dear life as the Titanoboa hissed in pain and thrashed around in the dirt. Flip flopping around with a Utahraptor attached to the back of its neck. Twisting its body around, it began to wrap its coils around Emerald. Quickly encasing her within its bulging reptilian muscles and pressing down with unbelievable strength. Enough to make Emerald let go and give a hoarse cry of pain as the life was slowly being squeezed out of her.

"Emerald!" James called. Running up to assist the trapped female raptor as the snake raised its head to meet Emeralds eyes. Prying its jaws open to give the finishing bite.

Leaping into the air, James yanked his knife out and plunged it into the side of the snake's neck. The creature screeched in agony, loosening its coils enough to allow Emerald to escape as she clamored out of the snake's grip. Once Emerald had been released from the snakes grip, James pulled his knife out of the creature's neck and leaped off, rolling out of the way of the snakes thrashing body as it continued to contort in pain.

Dodging under the creatures thrashing tail, Emerald roared as she leaped into the air and came down on the creatures back. The Titanoboa continued to thrash its head and tail at the pain as Emerald sank her teeth and claws into the creature's back and pressed down, pinning it.

Seeing the window that Emerald had opened, James ran up to the side of creatures thrashing head and put it into a headlock, plunging the end of his knife through the creature's soft jugular.

The snake stopped moving and instantly fell still.

Panting in utter fatigue, James pulled his knife out of the creature and released its head. Letting it fall limply to the ground.

Emerald, realizing that the creature was finally dead, removed her jaws from the snake's spine and pulled her claws out of its flesh. She turned her head and locked eyes with James.

The young cast away smiled. Walking up to the female raptor to thank her but received a threatening growl to keep back instead.

"Whoa, whoa!" James said, holding his hands up as a sign of submission.

Emerald was having none of that. She lowered her head threateningly and slowly stalked up to him. Her fangs were bared and the feathers on the back of her head were raised as she backed him into the boulder next to Alice, who cowered in fear at the female raptors primal fury.

"Emerald..." James whispered. He tightened the grip on his knife. He was going to have to kill her if he was going to get himself and Alice back alive. Then, he stared into her eyes. Her shimmering blue reptilian eyes glared into his very soul as cold as the ninth circle of hell itself! They told of fear and pain, pain that _he_ caused when he killed her pack. Fear _he_ brought when she no longer had a pack to hunt food with. Only having two young simple-minded young bloods to help her gather food and assist her with little chance of revenge she could have against him. But, those eyes also told another story, of sadness and loss. The sadness of losing a loved one and the loss of what once was.

Loosening the grip on his knife, he allowed it to fall from his hand.

Emerald tilted her head and looked down at the knife questioningly, and looked back up to see James lower his head and close his eyes.

"I... submit..." James muttered.

Emerald widened her eyes. He... wasn't going to fight back. She stared at him, watching him closely. He just stood there, his body was relaxed and without any trace of fear. He was allowing her to make her own choice. To exact revenge or... start over.

She contemplated on this. In the back of her mind, back when she was the alpha female of one of the strongest raptor packs around, she would have killed this human in return for him slaughtering her pack. Her family!

However...

He took her in and gave her shelter, against her will yes, but that wooden cage was one of the few dry places she had ever been able to sleep in. But, when she was running with the two young subordinates she never had a safe place to sleep... or very much food in her belly.

And, he saved her life just now as well.

Standing to her full eight-foot height, the proud female raptor lowered her head and rested her nose against his forehead, breathing against him softly as she inhaled his scent. He smelled so sweet like the earth itself and the lush jungle ferns she once called home.

James opened his eyes, widening them in shock. Looking up at the female raptor in astonishment as she stepped away and stared at him. She had accepted him. She had forgiven him.

James could only smile at the female raptor as he brought a hand up cautiously, and began to stroke the side of her neck. Emerald trilled quietly and closed her eyes, resting the top of her head against James's.

"No worries, Emerald..." James whispered, petting the female raptor. "No worries..."

XXX

Alright, there you have it. Hope you liked it guys!

Note: Being in college means longer update times but no worries ;). Im taking a graphic designer course and oh my god its so much fun. To be able to create your own games with your friends and go over new original ideas, its an experience I'll never forget. However, just because I'm in graphic desinging doesn't mean I'll be a pro at writing. Even though we are required to learn how in order to create some sequences in video games in the form of scripts, like in movies where actors have to memorize their lines. However, the main reason why I have so many mistakes and choppy sequences is because I have a tendancy to rush... and stay up late at night, lol. Anyways, no writing won't exactly be my best quality in life but this is also why beta readers exist. To help correct the mistakes you make with a fine tooth comb so remember, all of this is thanks to Draco38 who, by the way, was kind enough to be my beta reader. If it wasn't for Draco, this story would have so many mistakes and wouldn't make to much sense in terms of combat and action sequences.

Anyways, aside from that, Emerald has finally been offically tamed! Hooray! But, it seems I've gotten alot of Raptor requests so heres what I'll do. Send me three OC raptors. Three from one person or just one. But, please, please, please P.M me these ideas it's a little difficult to go through reviews looking for feedback while reading ideas for creature tames. For now though, I'll focus on one more creature to tame then move on to the requests and this one should please alot of you readers ;).

Have a good one and cheers!


	7. Chapter 6

Hello, and welcome to another chapter of Ark Survival Evolved HOTD crossover. As usual, I don't own HOTD or Ark Survival Evolved. Now please, enjoy yourselves, review, favorite and follow.

Special Thanks to Draco38 as my beta reader.

Chapter 6 Riding Lessons

"No worries, Emerald..." James whispered, petting the female raptor. "No worries..."

Emerald warbled softly, pulling away from James. She glanced over at the dead Titanoboa then walked over to it. She bent down and sniffed at the carcass. Opening her jaws, she took a small bite from the carcass. After swallowing the small chunk of fresh kill, Emerald proceeded to devour the rest of the carcass. Tearing large chunks of meat from the serpent's slender body and swallowing them whole.

James sweatdropped, smiling nervously at the gruesome sight as Emerald ate a large hole in the side of the serpent. Granting her access to the creatures iron-rich liver which she devoured with relish.

Alice tried her best to ignore the gory feeding frenzy before her by smiling and hugging James' leg. "Thanks for saving me, onii-san!"

"No problem," James smiled then frowned and looked down at Alice. "Alice, why did you wander off without telling us anything? You know it's dangerous out here."

Alice downcast her gaze, scuffling her foot through the dirt. "W-well, one of those chicken looking things waddled into the camp. I tried to catch it but it ran away so I-I followed it," she stuttered.

"Chicken looking thing?" James repeated, raising an eyebrow.

Alice closed her eyes and turned around. Walking over to her former hiding spot in between the boulders and reached inside. Pulling out a small chubby bright green Dodo bird.

James stared at the small feather creature as Alice placed the little bird on the ground. The Dodo tilted its head sideways and chirped, looking up at James stupidly.

"He was so cute," Alice said, reaching down and scooping the feathered creature up in her arms as he began to waddle away. "I couldn't just let him wonder off all by himself and when I finally caught up to him, that mean snake tried to eat him!"

James smiled at the little girl as she stroked the creatures vibrant green feathers. "Well, you do realize you'll have to take responsibility for this little guy?"

"Does this mean I get to keep him?!" Alice gasped happily, hugging the little Dodo close to her making the little bird give a hoarse chirp of surprise.

"Yes, you can keep him." James chuckled.

"Yay!" Alice danced around happily, swinging the little bird around in her arms.

James laughed at the little girls enthusiasm, amused by the joy she was displaying at being able to keep the Dodo bird. He chuckled sheepishly as Emerald walked up behind him. Licking the blood off her jaws and preening the small patch of feather on each of her arms.

Once Alice stopped dancing and noticed Emerald was done eating, she ran up to the female raptor and help the little Dodo up to her to display her new friend.

"Look Emerald-san! We have a new friend now!"

Emerald stared down at the little creature questioningly then snarled and bared her fangs. Causing the little bird to panic and try to break free from Alices arms. Emerald didn't see a friend. She saw food!

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Emerald!" James raised his voice. Placing himself between Alice, the Dodo, and the vicious female raptor as she lurched forward to seize the little-feathered appetizer from her hands.

Emerald froze, she stared at her new alpha in surprise. "We don't eat friends!" he said, sternly. Taking the Dodo from Alice, who reluctantly released her grip from the trembling little creature, and began to stroke it softly.

Emerald stared at him, dumbfounded. He was making friends with prey! She bared her fangs and shook her head, snarling her disagreement at James' decision.

"No but's, Emerald!" James declared, ending their discussion. Setting the little Dodo down before her and waiting patiently for her reaction as she stared down at the little creature in disgust.

Emerald couldn't believe this! She was being forced to befriend her food. It was one thing having to befriend this human but now she must be 'friendly' to this little morsel!

"James-oniisan, I don't think that's a good idea," Alice said quietly, watching anxiously. Emerald narrowed her eyes at the little Dodo as it tilted its head and looked up at her curiously. Emerald glared down at the little Dodo standing before her, lowering her snout to give it a curious sniff only to snarl in surprise when the creature pecked her on the snout.

"Uh oh," James muttered, sweatdropping as Emerald snarled malevolently at the bold little Dodo.

Twisting her body around suddenly, Emerald slapped the little Dodo with her long slender tail and sent him sailing across the clearing over their heads. Taking pleasure at the little creatures strange honk of pain as it landed in the murky waters behind them.

"Oh no!" Alice gasped, running over to save the little Dodo's it emerged from the murky depths with a surprised honk.

James frowned and looked over at Emerald, unimpressed.

"Really, Emerald?"

Emerald snorted and turned her nose away from him. Obviously saying 'I'm not apologizing!'.

He rolled his eyes at the female raptors childish behavior. She was definitely something alright.

After she pulled the Dodo out of the water, Alice took off her jacket and wrapped the soggy little Dodo up to dry it. "That wasn't very nice, Emerald-san!" Alice pouted, puffing her cheeks out at Emerald.

The female raptor snorted, thrashing her tail in irritation as a response.

James shook his head. She was a spiteful one alright!

"This is gonna be a long trip." he muttered to himself.

XXX

Once Alice had finished drying the small Dodo and chewing out Emerald for her unfriendly greeting, much to the female raptors displeasure, James led them back the way he originally came. Wading his way through the murky shallows of the swamp, he took care to watch where he stepped as these waters contained giant fish with teeth and blood sucking leeches!

He carried Alice on his shoulders to keep her out of the water while she hugged the Dodo close to keep him out of the murky water. Emerald snarled behind him, scowling down at the water as she awkwardly waded behind him. She too knew what resided in these waters and wasn't too keen on staying in the water any longer than she had too.

Finally making it to the bottom of the cliff, James lowered Alice down from his shoulder and stared up the looming cliff face.

"How are we supposed to get back up there?" Alice wondered, hugging the Dodo close to her. Feeling a little discouraged at the sight of the climb before her.

"We climb," James grunted, beginning to climb up the small cliff only to suddenly lose his footing and slid back down.

"Crap!" James snarled, shaking his hands in attempt to rid the burning pain.

"Maybe we should try something else, onii-san," Alice suggested, giggling nervously. James paid her no mind and tried to scramble up the steep cliff once more. Only to fall short and fail, again.

"Damn it! How hard is it to climb a stupid rock?!" James was getting frustrated. His hands were raw and hurt like hell.

Emerald, having seen her new alpha fail so miserably, snorted and shook her head. James whirled around and narrowed his eyes at the female raptor. Now was not the time to mock him!

However, seeing her gave him an idea!

He stared at her for a split second then glanced back up the cliff and grinned.

"I have an idea!"

Alice jumped at his sudden exclamation and watched as he slowly walked up to Emerald who narrowed her eyes at the approaching castaway. She squinted her eyes at him as he slowly approached her.

"Easy, Emerald. I just wanna try something out." James assured, holding his hands up. Stepping up to her side, he rested his hands on her ribs. Feeling her powerful heartbeat beneath her flesh as he stroked her scales. She was so warm and her skin was surprisingly soft. Her scales didn't feel as course or brittle as they appeared to be. They felt surprisingly smooth and refined.

Emerald closed her eyes, relaxing against his touch as he continued to pet her. His hands were soft and gentle. They caressed her battle worn scales with affection she had not felt in years.

"That's it," James whispered, patting her sides. Jumping up, he grabbed onto her back and scrambled on top of her. Sliding down and seating himself on her shoulders while using her neck to steady him while he centered himself.

Emerald opened her eyes and looked back at him curiously. She wanted to snarl at him but held her tongue as he petted the side of her jaw reassuringly.

"That's it." he repeated, petting her neck.

Emerald returned her gaze up ahead, the feeling of having her alpha on her back was... strange. She stood up awkwardly, feeling the slight pressure of his heels poke her sides as he urged her forward. She took a small step forward, feeling slightly unsure of her own footing now that he was on her back.

"It's ok," James said, smiling. "One step at a time."

Emerald grunted in acknowledgement and took another step when he leaned forward. She snarled in surprise when he suddenly leaned to the left and turned her in another direction.

"Just trust me, Emerald," James said, continuing to lead her to the left.

Emerald didn't quite understand what was going on or why her alpha was doing this. But, she did trust him. Somewhat.

Allowing him to take control over her, she let him walk her in a circle. Then in another direction and even backwards. She followed the movement of his upper body with each direction he leaned until she turning with him on the dime without no hesitation.

"That's it!" James chuckled, impressed. He suddenly leaned back, stopping her.

He couldn't believe this. He had actually tamed a raptor and not only that, he trained her to be ridden now! He had gotten so far with her now these past few hours than he did when he first met her. Although they were sworn enemies at the time.

Alice couldn't contain her excitement at the sight before her, eagerly bouncing up and down with the little Dodo in her arms.

"I wanna try! I wanna try!" She ran up to the female raptors side and gave James big puppy dog eyes, adding a small hopeful smile for extra effect. "Pleeeeeeease?"

James smiled at the young girl and reached his hand down, hoisting her up. Seating her and the Dodo in front of him at the base of Emeralds neck. Taking care to avoid the small spikes on the back of her neck.

Alice gushed with excitement as James urged Emerald forward in a brief sprint, jerking his body back suddenly to make her jump. She lept fifteen feet into the air and landed on a boulder at the base of the cliff.

"Awesome!" Alice cried, unable to contain her excitement. "Again!"

James chuckled at her enthusiasm and made Emerald jump again, this time further up the cliff. She moved so gracefully. Twisting and turning as she lept from ledge to ledge. Making the feat she was performing look like child's play as she breezed up the cliff face with relative ease.

Scrambling over the edge, Emerald lowered herself to allow James and Alice off her back.

"That was amazing!" Alice cried as James lifted her down from Emeralds back.

"Yea it was!" James grinned, patting Emerald on the neck as a thanks.

Emerald trilled in acknowledgement, lifting her head at the sound of jungle ferns snapping as several footsteps neared them.

"Alice?!" James recognized Kohta's voice. Watching as the ferns parted to reveal the winded young man who, upon seeing Alice safe and sound, sighed in relief.

"I found her!" he called behind him. "She's- GAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Emerald snorted and pretended Kohta wasn't there, knowing she was the reason for his sudden fearful exclaim.

James chuckled as the young otaku turned ghostly white and began to babble unintelligently.

"It's ok, Hirano," James placed a hand on Emeralds shoulder as proof of his word. "See?"

Hirano gave a prolonged gasp of shock and suddenly feel backwards. James, Alice, and Emerald sweatdropped as they stared down at the unconscious otaku.

"Hirano?" Takagi poked her out of the brush, looking around the small clearing until her eyes rested on Alice.

"Alice-chan!" she gasped, darting out of the brush and seizing the small child in her arms. "Where did you go? You had us so worried!" the pink haired genius' relief was quickly replaced with anger, her orange eyes burned into Alices forehead as she pinched both her cheeks and pulled. "Why did you run off like that you little munchkin?!"

"Eeeehhhhh, I fooound hiiim!" She squealed.

Takagi raised a questioning eyebrow, gasping as the little Dodo, who had become sandwiched between them, popped his head up through her breasts. Glancing around stupidly before looking up at her, tilting his head questioningly.

Takagi deadpanned at the bird with its head sticking out in between her cleavage as the others came out of the bushes. Panting and gasping for air.

"Alice!" Takashi panted.

"Kami!" Saeko sighed, wrapping her arms around Alice when Takagi released her. "Thank goodness you're safe!"

"I was fine Saeko- oneesan. I was with James and Emerald-san!"

Saeko released the girl and looked at her questioningly. "Emerald-sa..." she paused having seen the large female raptor walk up beside her with James. Everyone gasped, staring at the imposing female raptor fearfully as she looked at each and every one of them.

"I can explain!" James said, holding his hands up to keep them calm as Saeko stood up with her hand on her sword.

"Please do!" Rei gulped, hugging close to Shizuka as the former alpha turned her gaze over towards her.

"Look, I followed Alice into the swamp and saw that a Titanoboa was trying to get to her. I tried to fight the snake and get Alice out of there but the slithering bastard caught me off guard! Emerald saved us at the last minute and helped us get back up the cliff." James explained.

"Wait, how did she help you get up the cliff?" Takashi questioned, peeking over the edge to see the steep slope below.

"We rode her! It was amazing!" Alice cried, answering for James. She giggled as Spit tackled her to the ground, smearing his face across her chest and rolling over ontop of her with Zeke, both of them were happy to see her.

"What?!" Everyone exclaimed.

James chuckled. The expressions on everyone's face was priceless!

"Yea! James-oniisan is amazing! He fought that mean snake, and taught me how to ride a dinosaur! He even let me keep him!" Alice held up the Dodo for everyone to see, giggling as she tried to avoid Spits crested head.

While the dinosaur and his mammalian companion continued to shower the young girl with affection, Takagi stepped over Spits thrashing tail and took the Dodo from Alice. Holding him up to get a good look at him.

"Wow, they do look kind of stupid," Takagi stated, setting the Dodo down and watching him waddle about.

"What's his name?" Shizuka asked, pulling a bright red berry from a nearby bush and giving it to the curious Dodo, who picked it up happily.

"Hmmmm..." James thought on it. He really didn't know what to call this little Dodo. Then, it suddenly hit him. "Kenny!"

"Kenny?" Takagi frowned.

"Yep, his name is Kenny!"

"Why Kenny of all things?"

James lifted his shoulders. "Well, he kind of looks like a Kenny."

"Whatever." Takagi rolled her eyes, turning her attention to Emerald next. "And what about her? Is she... safe to be around now?"

"Yea! She's cool." James assured, sweatdropping as Emerald snarled at Takagi. "Well, sorta."

"No!" Alice suddenly said, getting to her feet as Emerald began to tower over Takagi. "Be nice to oneesan, Emerald-san!"

Emerald glared down at Takagi, who stared up at the large female raptor fearfully but didn't say anything, and backed away. But she kept her death glare held on the pink haired genius.

James stifled a weary sigh, he was afraid he'd have to step in, but it seemed Alice had quickly handled the situation.

"Nice job, Alice!" James praised.

Alice gave him a thumbs up and watched as Spit and Zeke interacted with Emerald. The female raptor lowered her head to sniff Spit as the small dilophosaur approached her. Sniffing her snout before bobbing his head and growling. Emerald tilted her head, giving him a small acknowledging growl and watching the young dilophosaur turn away. She focused on Zeke now, who abandoned the formalities and went straight to sniffing her foot. Specifically the long, hooked sickle claw.

"Uhh, Zeke, I'd step away if I were you," Takashi warned seeing Emerald narrow her eyes and twitch her claw, poking the little dog in the nose. Enough to cause him discomfort but not pierce the skin.

Zeke yelped and jumped backwards. Running away with his tail between his legs and hiding behind Takashi, who shook his head and chuckled. Patting the dog on the head sympathetically.

"So, she's on our side now?" Rei asked, watching the female raptor closely as she rested her nose on top of James' head and snorted. Blowing his hair about in frizzy mess.

"Yep," James grinned, fixing his hair back and petting Emerald on the snout.

Everyone looked at each other, unsure about what to think of their newest member. But, they did trust James, so that had to be more than enough. Even though the raptor did threaten to eat them on numerous occasions.

"Alright, let's get moving!" James announced, walking past the others and throwing an unconscious Hirano over his shoulder. "We've got a long ways to go!"

He walked past them while carrying Hirano on his shoulder. Emerald followed close behind her alpha, sniffing Hirano's face as she did so with Alice, Zeke, Spit and Kenny right behind her.

Takashi shook his head and walked after him. Smiling. "This guy."

Saeko giggled. Walking beside Takashi as they began to make their way back into the jungle along the cliffside.

Takagi grabbed the bridge of her nose and sighed, following after them Shizuka and Rei giggled, staying close behind.

XXX

The noise of the swamp echoed around them as the group made their way down a narrow embankment. James sat atop Emerald, who kept her eyes trained on the waters edge on both sides, as she trotted down the muddy bank. Takashi, the girls and Hirano, who had finally woken up from his surprise encounter with Emerald, followed close behind the female raptor.

Alice giggled in content as she sat in front of James, looking over Emeralds head to take in her new surroundings.

Spit, Zeke and Kenny sat atop Emerald behind James. Spit kept a wary eye on his surroundings. He was well aware of what lurked in these waters murky depths. Zeke and Kenny fast asleep, leaning against James back for support while they snoozed the day away.

"Kami, this is disgusting!" Takagi complained, trying her best to avoid the slippery muddy mess before her. She jumped as she felt something squirm underfoot and looked down to see a small black leech squirming under her shoe. Throwing its head up and splitting its lower jaw into two mandibles, revealing a mouthful of razor sharp teeth lined along the roof of its mouth and lower jaw.

Takagi yelped and kicked the leech away. Sending it spiraling into the murky waters beside her.

"The sooner we leave this place the better!" she growled, shivering at the thought of having touched such a repulsive creature.

"I'm with Takagi on this one," Takashi agreed, swallowing hard as he witnessed a large toothy fish swim up to the discarded leech and devour it in one bite. "This place is pretty creepy."

"As long as we stay out of the water we shouldn't have any trouble." James kept his eyes on the path ahead as it began to grow more narrow.

"Uhh, did you not see the big ass leech I just stepped on?" Takagi asked, growing impatient with her castaway guide.

James ignored the pink haired genius' previous comment and urged Emerald to stop. Everyone looked around questioningly, trying to figure out why James had stopped so suddenly.

The path before them ended. And ahead of them was a large gap of murky water with numerous boulders jutting out of the water.

"Great," Takagi growled. "Now what?"

James frowned at the path ahead of them and tightened his legs around Emerald. "Now, we start jumping!"

Emerald broke into a dead sprint and leaped into the air. Landing on one boulder before jumping over five more and landing on another. After one more jump, she landed on the embankment on the other side with a growl.

Alice laughed and petted the back of Emeralds head as James looked back at the other, smirking at the astonished looks on their faces. "Well, come on!"

Takashi frowned, sweatdropping at the sight of the many jumps lay before him. He none the less made the jumps, though. Leaping from one rock to the other. Stopping only to regain his balance and make another leap. Once he made it to the other side, Saeko followed in his steps but much quicker and more gracefully. After she made it to the other side, Takagi and Hirano went at once but clumsily so. With a certain otaku losing his footing and plummeting into the dark waters with a surprised yelp. Takagi paused only to snarl her displeasure at the otaku's clumsiness only to find herself in the water beside him as the rock she stepped on was a surprisingly large dark grey frog!

When Takagi and Hirano finally made it out of the water, Shizuka and Rei went next. However, Rei with her injured ankle couldn't quite make the jumps so easily. Having seen the trouble they were having, James had Alice, Spit, Zeke and Kenny jump off and wait beside the others. He turned Emerald around and made her leap back across the gap and land on a boulder beside the two women. Offering a hand to them.

"Need a little help?" he asked with a smile.

Shizuka and Rei glanced up at Emerald uneasily as the female raptor narrowed her eyes at the two women.

"It's ok, she won't bite," James assured. "Hopefully."

"Wow, that's reassuring!" Rei muttered, earning a giggle from the busty nurse beside her as she took James hand and pulled herself onto Emeralds back.

Once Rei was seated comfortable behind James, the young castaway offered another hand to Shizuka and hoisted the busty nurse onto Emeralds back. The female raptor snarled her discontent on having two unwanted passengers on board but didn't offer to argue with James as he patted her side.

Making another impressive leap across the water, Emerald landed on the other side with a grunt and lowered herself to immediately allow Shizuka and Rei off her back. Shizuka, however, stopped Rei from climbing off.

"Miyamoto-san, I think it'd be a better idea if you stayed off that ankle for a while." suggested the busty nurse.

"Uhh, I don't think that's a good idea Shizuka-sensei." Rei gulped, shivering at the death glare Emerald was giving her. Having found the idea of carrying someone besides her alpha and the small one distasteful.

"It's alright. Emerald won't hurt you." James sweatdropped as a growl rumbled in Emeralds throat. Her glare intensified on Rei. "Knock it off, Emerald!" James hissed.

Emerald stopped growling but kept glaring at Rei as she positioned herself back in a riding position. Wrapping her arms around James' waist as he urged Emerald forward. Taking the lead again.

XXX

After traveling aimlessly for several more hours and watching the eerily lit swamp begin to darken around them, James found the driest mud bank he could find and decided to camp there for the night.

"Ok," he announced, sliding down off of Emeralds back and helping Rei down. "We'll camp here for the night."

Everyone else collapsed onto the ground, panting heavily and rolling onto their backs and closing their eyes.

"Man, I have never walked this far before!" Kohta gasped, his chest heaving with exhaustion.

"There's a first time for everything chubby," Takagi sighed, opening James' backpack as he sat it down and pulling a waterskin from his bag to take a sip. Only to remember it was empty and toss it aside with a frustrated growl. "Damn it, forgot that we have no water."

James walked over and picked up the discarded waterskin. Staring at it thoughtfully before getting an idea.

"Hey, why don't you guys set up camp while me and Emerald go out and scout the area for fresh water," James suggested, hoping back on Emeralds back just as the former alpha had nestled down for the night. Emerald stood back up with an irritated snarl, looking back to glare at her alpha as Takashi shook his head.

"I don't think that's a good idea, James-san. It's dark and you can't see where you're going. Not to mention this place is nothing but trees and water."

"Look, we went all day without water. We can't go any longer without something to drink before we get dehydrated and collapse." James explained, taking his backpack from Rei as she offered it up to him.

"Yes, but you won't know if you'll be stepping into a 12-foot deep crocodile pit either!" Takashi added, trying to persuade the castaway from going.

"Emerald has night vision. She can see what I can't."

"So?"

"So I'll just have to trust her judgement."

Takashi frowned, he was getting a little irritated by the castaway's stubbornness. Rei sighed and placed a hand on his calf. "Just be careful. Ok?"

"I'll be fine," James assured, leaving no more room for discussion as Emerald galloped away into the darkness.

"Kami, why does he always have to go against what I say?" Takashi growled, staring into the darkness where James and his raptor disappeared.

"Takashi-kun, he knows more about this place than we do," Saeko said, answering his rhetorical question for him. She walked up beside him and leaned against him. Closing her eyes as she breathed in his scent. "Besides, he knows how to handle himself. Not to mention he has a vicious female to keep him company."

Takashi chuckled at that last part. He smiled, understanding what she meant. "Yea, you got that right!"

XXX

Emerald glided through the trees as she gave another tremendous leap. Landing on another river bank before hopping onto a rock and scrambling up a large boulder. James brought and arm up to shield his face from the tree branches hanging overhead as Emerald plowed through the thick greenery. Coming out of the branches with a grunt, James was blinded slightly by the light of the full moon rising in the night sky.

After taking a moment to allow his eyes to adjust, James blinked at the sight ahead. A massive drop off into a valley with more cypress trees populating the area. However, in the far distance he could faintly make out the dim glare of torchlight. A lot of torch light.

James frowned questioningly at the strange sight, reaching down and patting Emerald on the neck as the female raptor gave a quiet snarl.

"Let's go check it out." He muttered.

Sliding down the boulder, Emerald leaped off to land on the embankment below. As she landed, they heard a loud snap and a quiet _ploomp!_ James coughed, waving his hand at a strange green gas that suddenly appeared around them.

"What the... hell... is thi-" he groaned, falling from Emeralds back onto the ground.

Emerald snarled in alarm at her alpha suddenly being dismounted but her vision began to blur. She stumbled, landing with a thud beside her alpha as fought to keep her half lid eye open. Gazing up to see three blurry figures leap down from the trees before her vision went completely black.

There you go guys! Hope you enjoyed it!


	8. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own HOTD or Ark Survival Evolved

Special Thanks to Draco38 as my beta reader.

Chapter 7 Swamp Dwellers

"James..."

James groaned, lifting his head, then letting it hang limply. He felt a strange pressure on his wrists and his head was spinning. God, what hit him?

"James-chan!"

James' eyes parted slowly, his vision was blurry but everything was starting to become clear. He looked to his right where he heard his name be called and looked to see the others staring at him with wide concerned eyes from behind a wall of wooden bars.

"Are you ok?" Rei asked, worriedly.

James groaned and tried to move his arms but found that he couldn't. He looked up to see them restrained to two posts by a thick braid of rope.

"What the hell?" he said, pulling against the rope to no avail.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Takagi said, sitting down at the back of the cage with Hirano.

James looked down at her questioningly but quickly found out what she was talking about.

Several men and women stood before him in a large crowd. They were each dressed in different attire, ranging from dirty rags to full suits of Chitin armor. They glared at him with apparent hostilities.

James raised an eyebrow at the sight of the filthy inhabitants, glancing around to see he was in the center of a small shanty town. All of the buildings were made of wood and were borderlined under or amongst the cypress trees along the waters edge.

At the far end of the small village, James could see an old woman muttering to a group of children, who stared at James with wide curious eyes, as a large burly man in black chitin armor stepped through the crowd.

He glared at James. "Why are you here?"

James frowned as a scraggly shaggy haired man within the crowd answered for him. "We found him stalking around the jungle on that green raptor over there." The man threw his thumb over his shoulder to point at Emerald hog tied within a reinforced wooden cage with two large dog like crocodile creatures guarding each side.

James widened his eyes, gritting his teeth at the sight of his beta restrained as if she were a pathetic little pig.

"Hmph!" the man grunted, turning his attention to the raptor. "I don't see a saddle on the beast!"

"That's the thing, Showk. He was riding her bareback."

The man, Showk, lifted an eyebrow. Intrigued by this information. "Really?" He ignored James and walked over to Emeralds cage. Beaconing the two creatures guarding her aside with a whistle.

Once the two beasts were out of the way, Showk crouched down to get a better look at Emerald.

"Hmm, an impressive raptor indeed. Definitely larger than your average Utahraptor." Showk said in a low voice while stroking his beard. Emerald narrowed her eyes. A growl rumbled within her throat as Showk continued to ogle her with disturbing interest. As he opened his mouth to say something else, Emerald suddenly snapped the thick ropes restraining her jaws and snapped them just at the tip of his fat nose.

Showk leaped backwards, greatly surprised by Emerald's sudden attack as she proceeded to snap the ropes restraining her arms and legs with her saurian muscles. Once she had freed herself, Emerald twisted her head around to meet Showk's astonished gaze and roared. Slamming into her cage in an attempt to rip his throat out.

Believing that their master was in danger, and rightfully so, the two crocodilians lunged at Emerald. Snapping her attention onto the two croc's, Emerald quickly stepped away from the bars. One of the crocs simply slammed into the cage and snapped its jaws at Emerald as an intimidation attempt but the other one managed to get its head jammed in between the bars of the cage. The creature struggled to get its massive head freed from the bars but Emerald didn't give it the chance to escape.

She slammed her jaws around the creatures thick scaly neck and shook violently. The croc gave a hiss of pain but was quickly silenced by a sickening crunch.

Showk stared down at his fallen beast with wide eyes. He watched as Emerald released the croc's severed head, allowing it to fall from her jaws and onto the cage floor.

"Fucking-" One of the men within the crowd, the same scraggly man from before, lurched towards Emerald. Yanking a pike out of the hands of a guard standing beside him. However, before he could get close enough to get a stab at Emerald, Showk extended a meaty arm and clotheslined him before he could get to close.

"Enough, Tar!" Showk bellowed, taking the pike out of Tar's hands where he lay on the ground trying to come back to his senses. "You will not kill this raptor while I am here!"

Tar managed to get on his knees and spit out a mouthful of saliva. He glared up at his tribe leader. "But that scaly bitch just killed one of our beasts! We're struggling enough as it is with those damn bandits! Now we're gonna have a harder time keeping watch of the place without it!"

"Then we'll go out and bring back another one," Showk grunted, handing the pike over to one of the guards as he stepped up to James.

He examined James closely, gripping his beard as he looked him up and down.

James stared down at the massive man, a little unnerved by the way he was taking an interest in him.

Showk continued to look over James for a few silent moments. "You do know your beast just slaughtered one of my tribes most valued assets."

"Well, maybe you need better guard dogs." James retorted.

Showk chuckled, dryly, "Perhaps so."

They stared at each other in uneasy silence until Showk finally broke that silence.

"Why are you here? It's not everyday you have one of your hunting parties bring home a band of teenagers, two dinosaurs, a dodo and one little dog."

James frowned. He really didn't want to spill out his personal information to this guy. But, what choice does he have? If he stayed silent then these guys will more than likely lose their patience and have them killed. He looked over at the others locked inside their cage, staring at him anxiously. Waiting for his next move.

James sighed. "We're from the south near Drayo's Cove. We recently lost our base of operations to Leonidas' band of raiders."

That caught Showk's attention, as well as the rest of villagers.

James continued, "Look, we've been wandering the swamp for almost a day with no food, no water, and no shelter from the bugs. And besides, do we look like that much of a threat to you? A young guy with a bunch of girls to back him up."

"Hey?!" Takagi and Rei exclaimed, outraged.

Saeko, however, silenced them both with a raised hand, "He knows what he's doing. We shouldn't interfere."

Takagi and Rei glared at the swordswomen but begrudgingly followed her advice. Remaining silent as James added.

"We've also got a little girl with us. You gonna keep her locked up too?"

Showk raised his eyebrows, obviously taken by surprise by this information. "A little girl?" He looked over at the cage the group was being held in and caught sight of Alice hiding behind Shizuka with Spit and Zeke resting beside her. The little dilophosaur threw a threatening growl at Showk, unraveling his frill as a warning.

Showk paid no mind to Spit instead he turned to Tar, who had picked himself up from the dirt, and growled angrily. "You did not tell me there was a child amongst them!"

"Child or not, they are still invaders. They aren't one of the Swamp Lotas tribe! So that makes them invaders!" Tar spat. "And we should take care of them like we do with the rest of the invaders and kill them!"

"We will not kill them!" Showk roared, a sheet of red apparent beneath the dirt on his face. James flinched at the man's rage as did Tar. He was a little taken back by the leaders sudden change in attitude as he barked at on of the guards.

"Release them at once!" The guard immediately obeyed his leader's request and pulled out a ring of keys from his pocket. Showk left the guard to it as he stepped up to James and pulled a metal knife from his belt. Cutting the bonds holding James to one post before moving to the next.

"Apologies, friend," Showk said, untieing the rope from James left wrist.

"Why the sudden change in attitude?" James questioned, lifting an eyebrow in suspicion.

"Because," Showk said, unraveling the last knot of rope from James' right wrist. "When you told me that you were run out of your home by Leonidas' raiders, I knew you weren't one of them. Besides, you have a child in your ranks! We don't kill children."

"Well, that's a relief," Takagi sighed, shakily. Stepping out of the along with the others.

Takashi and Saeko dipped their heads in thanks to the guard as they stepped out. Rei mumbled a thanks and hurriedly stepped out of the cage followed by Hirano, who didn't say anything. Shizuka said her thank's, carrying Kenny in one hand and guided Alice out of the cage with the other. Spit and Zeke followed close behind them.

Spit retracted his frill but kept a watchful eye on the guard as he exited the cage. Making sure to place himself between him and Alice as they did so. Zeke, however, wasted no time to bark and bite at the guards armored boots once he exited the cage.

"Zeke, no!" Alice called.

Beckoning the little dog to her side, Alice glanced around fearfully as the villagers began to clamber around them. They seemed to regard the group with a sudden wave of kindness. Placing a crown of swamp flowers over everyone's heads and offering them food.

"Haaaaaw! Food!" Hirano cried, comical tears running down his face at the sight of a well-cooked steak with a side of steamed vegetables offered to him by an elderly woman. The woman simply smiled as the hunger-crazed otaku seize the plate from her and began to wolf his food down.

Looking over at Emerald, James motioned his head in her general direction. "Don't forget about Emerald.

Showk, however, frowned. "The raptor stays in her cage. For now, let us treat you with the appropriate hospitality."

Everyone seemed to take the sudden change in attitude cautiously as they began to lead them to a long house stationed at a small mud bank across the village.

"Come, let us feed our new guests!" Showk announced, placing a hand on James back and guiding him to the long house behind the rest of the villagers.

James tossed a suspicious stare at the large man's hand resting on his shoulder but found it best to follow him.

XXX

Upon entering the lodge, the group was greeted by the sounds of merriment. People sang and danced. Some even approached the girls, mainly large hairy men with a cloud of flies surrounding them. A few young women offered their hands to Takashi and Hirano but both of them reluctantly declined. Mainly due to the boy's jealous mistresses.

James smiled and politely declined a young girls request to dance as a plate of food was sat down before him. His mouth watered at the sight of the cooked meats, steaming vegetables, a large pot of beans and a stack of freshly boiled and seasoned Rockcarrots.

"Please, enjoy," Showk smiled, welcomingly. Taking a seat at the head of a large table.

Taking a hesitant seat, James sat down at the far corner next to Showk. The others took their seats and began to dig into the mountain of food.

"Aw, man! This is great!" Takashi said through a mouthful of food.

"So good!" Shizuka agreed.

Hirano was too busy downing food like a madman to compliment the food. A piece of meat had managed to land on Takagi during his vicious feeding frenzy. Prompting the young pink haired genius to go into a fit of rage.

"Baka! Did anyone teach you to chew with your mouth closed!"

James' chuckled nervously as the pinkette continued to chew out the feeding otaku. However, he heard Showk clear his throat next to him and faced the village leader.

"They are not from Ark aren't they."

James nodded. "Their from another world."

"Like you?"

James frown, nodding again. "Yes."

"Hmph, I've heard about you. You're that young lad that the Broken Toe tribe took in who "fell from the heavens". "

James nodded again. "Surprised word traveled all the way down here into the Shivering Swamps."

"Well, seeing that you're the one responsible for stopping a tribe civil war," Showk said, taking a sip of mead from his mug and slamming it back on the table, splashing alcohol all over the table, "You hear a few things."

"Whoa, wait!" Rei interrupted, setting her fork down. "You stopped a civil war? When did this happen?"

Everyone's undivided attention was on James. Even Hirano stopped his fast-paced eating to stare at James with peeked interest.

James sighed. "That was a long time ago. Around the time I first showed up here."

"Aye, and you were just a babe in the woods when that happened," Showk said. "Not to mention having beautiful generals falling for you." He grinned earning a glare from James.

"It's not like that!"

"Well from what I heard you left the tribe in the middle of the night without a trace. While also breaking the heart of the cheiftan's daughter and tribe general, Ren Swiftknife."

"I had my reasons!" James snarled.

"And what reason might that be?"

James was starting to lose his patience with this man's questions. He hated delving into his past and didn't appreciate someone else sticking their nose in it as well.

After taking a moment to cool down, James muttered threateningly, "That isn't your concern."

Showk stared at him silently and smiled, "Understood."

Everyone sat in awkward silence. Looking fromJames to Showk while they continued to stare at each other. Finally, Showk spoke.

"You never truly answered my question. Yes, you are here because Leonidas' men chased you out of Drayo's Cove, but where do you plan to go?"

James stared at him in silence then finally mumbled,"To the Northern Mountains. I'm on a quest to return to the Broken Toe tribe."

A small smile appeared on Showk's face, "Well, this just keep's getting better and better."

"Yea, yea, whatever," James growled. "Listen, could you point us in the right direction out of this swamp and to the north?"

"Of course. However..." James narrowed his eyes as Showk trailed off. He knew what was coming next. "We need your assistance with a little... problem plaguing my village."

"What kind of "problem"?" James asked.

"As you might of heard earlier, my tribe is being harassed by a band of Leonidas' men. They come here, burn our crops, slaughter our creatures and kill my people. I want them removed." Showk explained.

"Well, you seem pretty well armed here. Why don't you do it yourself?" Takagi interjected. Speaking on James behalf.

"Because, girl, I only have so many well-trained fighters." Showk retorted. "And this "band" of raiders came heavily armed."

"How armed?" James questioned.

"They came here with guns."

It seemed Showk had said the magic word as Hirano immediately exploded into a hysterical fit.

"Guns?!" the excited otaku gasped.

Showk raised a questioning eyebrow at the ecstatic young man but James simply sighed. "Don't mind him."

"Right," Showk continued. "They've set up a large encampment further down river. My scout report they have cleared away a large portion of the swamp away and have built massive wooden walls around their camp. They mine the earth for its precious metals and are capturing many of the lands creatures and taming them. Then turn our homeland's creatures against us."

"Sounds like they're trying to take over," Takashi said.

"You think?" Takagi retorted.

James looked over at his small group. Deep in thought.

"Please," Showk suddenly added. Surprising James. "My people are in dire need of help. These raiders... care nothing about who get's in their way. I have lost many men to these monsters. Good men! As well as women and children."

James frowned at the last part as did the others. Women and children? What sort of monsters could do such a thing? He had heard that Leonidas' men were the appithamy of ruthless but this was going to far.

"Those monsters," Saeko muttered.

"Women and children?" Shizuka covered her mouth with her hand. Her eyes wide with shock and horror.

Takashi and Kohta were frowning. Rage apparent on their faces. Rei stared down at her half empty plate in silence and Takagi drew Alice close, finding the possibility of the raiders killing the little girl horrifying.

"Ok..." Everybody stopped. Looking at James questioningly while he stared down at his knees. He tilted his head up. Staring at Showk intensely through his long sweat bangs hanging from his forehead.

"I'll do it," he whispered grimly. "I'll help you fight."

AN: Man it's been a while! Sorry it took me so long guys. But, I've finally gotten a break from college now that it's hitting summer. Finals are over and now I can get back to the story. Now, a couple of things I want to announce.

First: No more raptor OC' raptor squad of Ark is finally assembled and chapters are being arranged for their arrival. No raptor's for the HOTD crew. Why? Because raptors run in packs and respond to one alpha. Don't want to make things complicated in the group ;). However, I will except creature OC's for the following group members.

Kohta  
Takashi  
Rei  
Shizuka

I already have tames in mind for Saeko and Takagi. And only one tame per individual! I won't be able to cram all these creatures into the story at once and we want to keep the group small and simple.

Second: I went on ahead and delved a little into James' past. Mainly because over the time I have been taking finals I had a prequel come to mind so stay tuned guys!


	9. Chapter 8

I do not own Highschool of the Dead or Ark Survival Evolved.

A Special thanks to Draco38 my beta reader.

Chapter 8: To Arms

An eerie still silence filled the mess hall. Everyone stared at James in surprise. Taken aback by his sudden declaration of war.

Showk, however, gave an acknowledging nod, "Very well. Come, we strike at last light! For now, we must prepare."

James grunted, rising from his seat and following Showk out of the lodge to a small wooden shack.

"James, wait!" He heard Rei call. James turned to see the others exit the lodge behind him. Worry apparent in all of their eyes.

"James this is insane! You can't just dive into a fight when you have no idea who you're fighting!" Takashi said, trying to reason with the determined castaway.

"You may not know anything about Leonidas' men, but I do." James turned his back to them. Following after Showk who had paused a few meters ahead. "These guys rely on the sheer might of their mounts and guerrilla warfare to gain the upper hand in a fight. However, they lack the numbers and coordination of a well-trained unit."

"And that matter's why?" Takagi questioned.

"What James-san is getting at is, if they play their cards right, they could overwhelm the enemy with a well-placed ambush. Finishing them off before they could even arm themselves." Hirano explained, grimly. "During the Vietnam War in 1955, North Vietnamese Communists, also called the Vietcong, used guerrilla warfare to gain the upper hand against the U.S troops as they were not as knowledgeable of the jungle terrain of their homeland. During some ambushes, the Vietcong guerrilla fighters would sneak up on unaware U.S. troops, attack them, and leave before risking capture. The Vietcong would also pose as citizens or farmers then when least expected, they would surprise attack U.S. troops using arms provided by Ho Chi Minh. Ho Chi Minh was a Vietnamese Marxist revolutionary leader and also the president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. He ordered an elaborate 200-mile long tunnel system to be dug to aid the guerrilla fighters in their ability to move from place to place undetected by U.S. infantry."

"Enough with the history lesson chubby!" Takagi snarled. "How is all that supposed to help us?"

Hirano, for the first time ever, paid no mind to Takagi's harsh comment. Instead, he answered her rhetorical question. "It means if James-san and Showk-san's men were to employ the raiders tactic's against them. It would mean certain victory." Kohta turned away from Takagi to Showk. "How many men did you say your scouts counted?"

"Around 30," Showk answered.

"And the camp, could you possibly draw me a depiction in the dirt?"

Showk though on this for a moment before nodding. He raised his hand and beaconed a short stocky man in what appeared to be a ghillie suit to them. When the man approached them, Showk ordered him to draw a crude drawing of the camp in the dirt.

At first, the scout seemed puzzled by this order but followed it none the less. As Showk was quickly beginning to become impatient with him. Picking up a stick, the scout drew a large triangle with three small squares positioned on each end.

"These three squares are watch towers the raiders have stationed to defend their outpost." the scout explained, tapping the stick on each little square. "We confirmed that the raiders stationed in these towers do possess firearms but crude ones at most."

"How crude?" Kohta suddenly interjected.

The scout glanced at the otaku. "Simple lever action long rifles."

"Hmm, that could only mean a Model 89 Carbine 500 S&W or something close. That would mean they would definitely have some range to them but they would lack the large ammo capacity of say an Ak-47. But, seven bullet's is no joke though." Hirano muttered to himself, staring down at the crude drawing in deep thought. James could feel the pressure of his concentration overtake the village center. It was scout continued. "The main entrance is heavily guarded. So if you manage to get past the gunmen in the towers you'll quickly find yourself swarmed by the rest of the camp. However," the scout paused to draw a small circle on the right side of the triangle. "We managed to find another point of entry. A mining tunnel. We managed to pinpoint their exact digging spot and created another small tunnel intersecting with the mines. Giving us full access to the camp."

Suddenly, Hirano took over. "Then you guys can enter the camp through the mines."

"Exactly."

"Ok, so we have our point of entry. But how do we enter the camp without having the tunnel collapsed on us." James questioned. "And if we managed to fight our way through the mines, we still have the gunmen in the towers to contend with."

"That's when these come in." James raised an eyebrow as Showk opened the door to the lodge they were about to enter and pulled out a hand carved bone chest plate with the red markings of the southern raiders. "We scavenged these from the fallen of a failed attempt to raid my village. The plan is to disguise ourselves as one of them and sneak into the camp undetected. Allowing use to eliminate our enemies quietly and with little conflict as possible."

Hirano, suddenly, seized the stick from the scout. Surprising him. The otaku raised the stick in the air and cheered enthusiastically. "Men, we have our battle plan."

While the others murmured amongst themselves about their current situation, James frowned. Glaring at the set of raider armor as it was handed to him by Showk.

Showk, having sensed the hatred emitting from James, patted him sympathetically on the shoulder. "I understand the hatred you feel towards this, but it is the only way we can infiltrate the camp safely without losing any lives."

James didn't say anything. His frown deepened as he slipped off his leather shoulder pads and placed on the bone chest plate. Taking the matching set of boots, pants and helmet inside the shack. After a few minutes, James stepped out of the shack in a full suit of raider armor.

"Wow, you look kinda scary." Rei joked.

James, however, didn't find the joke very amusing. "I feel like utter filth wearing this!" he growled. Although his hostilities were not directed towards her, Rei shrunk away from the venom within his words.

Rei opened her mouth to apologize but was cut off by Showk as he exited the shack behind James, dressed as a raider as well. "Well, your gonna have to learn to deal with it because this is our only way to get inside."

James threw his head back and glared at the village leader. "The sooner I get out of this fucking armor, the better!"

While three of Showk's men entered the shack to change into their disguises, Takashi spoke up. "We're going with you."

Showk and James looked at each other. Then back at Takashi.

"No, Takashi," James said, gruffly.

"But, we know how to-" James suddenly cut him off. "Takashi, you don't know Leonidas' men. They're... not like normal people back in our world. These guys are ruthless and to be frank Takashi, you aren't exactly equipt to take even one of these guys on!"

"What is that supposed to mean?!" Takashi demanded, anger beginning to well up within his stomach.

"Takashi you neither have the muscle nor the training to fight these men!" James spat. "Leonidas has adopted the training of one of our worlds most, if not, most formidable military legion to ever have existed. The Spartan's! These men have pushed themselves to damn near the peak of human physical strength! Trust me Takashi, you guys wouldn't last a second against even one of their men."

When James was finished, he turned his back to Takashi. Preparing to follow Showk as he began to lead him and his men into the swamp. Then, he suddenly remembered.

"Hold up!" He called after them.

Showk and his men turned and faced him. Giving him questioning looks as James diverted from their path and walked up to Emeralds cage.

Emerald, having finally seen her alpha safe and sound, warbled a soft greeting. "Hey, Emerald," James smiled. Sticking his arm through the bars and petting her on the snout. He turned to Showk, holding out his other hand. "Toss me the keys. I'm taking her with us."

One of his men snorted. "You let her out and she attack's us. She's dead." He added the last part threatening growl

"Not before I get to you first." James retorted, threateningly.

The man stiffened but said nothing more. Showk frowned at the idea of bringing along a large carnivorous raptor with them on a stealth mission.

James having sensed the hesitance among the men, added. "Trust me. She knows when to be stealthy."

Showk didn't say anything. He stared past James and locked eyes with Emerald. His listless gaze met her predatory glare. After a long silence, Showk reached into his pouch and pulled out a key ring with one single metal key attached to it. He tossed the key to James, who caught it and proceeded to unlock the door to Emeralds cage.

"Come on, Emerald." James beckoned.

Showk watched from the sidelines as Emerald stepped out of the cage. His men had their hands on their weapons as the large female raptor stepped out of her cage. She warbled her thanks and pressed her snout against her alpha's forehead. Closing her eyes to breath in his scent. James doing the same. Showk watched as James lifted both his hands and brought them under Emeralds jaw. Caressing the mighty carnivores head within his rugged hands while the two shared a silent, mental conversation.

He could see the connection between the two. A deep bond between man and beast. One that could not be broken by any force that resided on this island.

"Come," Showk finally said, breaking the silence between the two. He lifted his head to the sky, seeing that the sun was beginning to set. "It's almost time."

Nodding, James turned to Emerald. "Come on, girl. Let's get moving." Emerald, tossing a questioning glare towards Showk and his men, squinted her eyes in suspicion. However, after receiving a reassuring pat on the neck from James, the female raptor reluctantly followed close by her alpha. Making sure to give the three hesitant men staring at her a threatening growl to assume her dominance over them and to keep their distance from her alpha.

However, they didn't get very far down the trail before Takashi, once again, spoke up. "James!"

James paused, growling in slight irritation at he turned to face Takashi. He saw Saeko, Rei and Hirano right behind the young man, weapons in hand as they stopped in front of him. Takashi lifted his chin and stood tall. Looking James right in the eyes as he spoke sternly but authoritatively.

"Look, we may not look like a band of capable fighters to you. But when one of our friends is in danger, we will fight to the very end to protect them! No matter how strong the enemy or how numerous they are!" The raw determination in the boy's eyes made James lift his eyebrows, intriguing him rather than upsetting him. Unlike the young man's earlier more demanding request. However, he didn't have time for this.

He turned to continue down the trail until Takashi added. "You are our friend, James-san..." James froze. His face shadowed by his bangs. He didn't move nor say anything. Emerald lowered her head, tilting it questioningly before looking up as Takashi went on.

"And we don't let our friends fight their battles alone. So whether you like it or not, we're going with you!"

"All of us!" Saeko announced with a confident smirk.

After a long, silent moment. James slowly turned. He lifted his head slightly to regard each of them with one expressionless gray eye.

Takashi gave him a big smile as did Saeko. Hirano grinned and gave him a thumbs up. Rei held her hands to her chest, giving him a warm smile as his gaze washed over her.

Finally, James closed his eyes. Sighing in utter defeat. "Fine... let's go..."

Takashi gave the young castaway a big smile as he turned his back to him. "Stay close, and keep quiet. You aren't wearing any disguises like us so stay in the shadows." James called back to them. "And don't fight unless you have too!"

"Hey, man," Takashi called after him, running to catch up to them,"That's what we're good at!"

While jogging after the journeying war party, Saeko couldn't help but feel this sudden chill run down her spine. She turned to look back into the village to find the man, Tar, glaring after them. She narrowed her eyes at him but kept moving. When she removed her eyes from him for only a second to make sure she was right behind the rest of the group, she turned to find that Tar was gone now.

XXX

"So, where's this secret entrance you guys made?" James whispered, following close behind Showk and his three men as they delved through the dark eerie swamp.

"Not too far ahead," Showk replied, parting a sheet of hanging vines to allow the others to pass. "And keep it down, we're almost to the camp. We don't want them to be alerted to our presence."

Upon entering a bare clearing that was void of any cypress trees and murky swamp water, James was greeted by the illuminating glow of torch light. About three hundred yards ahead of them was a large imposing outpost surrounded by large jagged spike barriers that defended the log fence behind it from would be attackers and island predators. From within the camp, James could see one of the three watchtowers standing from within the confines of the raiders base. With two gunmen standing watch atop the tower. Luckily though, their backs were towards them, so they weren't in any danger of being spotted at the moment.

"This way, quickly!" Showk beckoned them down a dried river bed.

Jumping down into the dried river, James looked up and began to help the others down one by one. Emerald leaped down into the river bed and landed silently beside the others. Looking up to regard the towering camp walls cautiously while everyone waited for Showk's men to slide down the river bank.

Once everyone was within the safety of the shadows, Showk walked up to a large boulder wedged up against the bank right below the camps wooden walls and shouldered it aside. Grunting with effort as he did so.

The boulder landed with a mighty thud but had revealed a large dark tunnel within the dried river embankment.

"Ok," Showk whispered lowly. Facing everyone. James could feel the tension rising from everyone. Hell, even he was having trouble keeping his heartbeat under control. They were about to enter a camp filled with bloodthirsty murderers. That alone would have made most men turn back and head home.

However, if they did that, then these people standing beside him wouldn't have any home to go back too. These raiders will stop at nothing until they control the entire region. That includes killing any possible rebellion that would unit under their noses.

James knew of this tribe, The Swamp Lotus Tribe. Although they might be small, this was only a branch from the rest of the tribe. They controlled the entire region of the Shivering Swamp's as small but well-armed villages and were a very peaceful tribe. But, don't be fooled. They were also a highly advanced tribe! Pretty close to the Broken Toe tribe in terms of resources. However, they did not possess the architecture and weaponry the Broken Toe does. Although they live in crude wooden shacks and longhouses, the Swamp Lotus tribe possessed sturdy Chitan armor which they craft from the hardened exoskeletons of the local insect life within the swamps treacherous landscape and crude firearms as well.

"Stay together and do not speak," Showk instructed. He turned to Takashi and the others. "And you four, stay at the very back and do not move until it is clear."

They all nodded.

"Good," Showk grunted. He moved to enter the cave but stopped. He noticed Hirano did not possess a weapon.

"You, boy!" Hirano suddenly stood in attention. "Do you not possess a weapon?" Hirano seemed to deflate a little. Sweating bullets as he made the sudden realization that he had tagged along on a combat mission unarmed.

"Uhhh, well you see-!" Hirano chuckled, sheepishly. He was cut off as Showk growled in irritation. "Here!" he yanked a long barreled pistol out of its holster from his back and handed it to the stunned otaku. Along with a handful of bullets.

"Take this and do not fire it unless you absolutely have too!" And with that, Showk enter the cave. Leaving the otaku to part take in his sudden enthusiastic fit.

"Haaaaaaaaah! This is a long-barrelled .44 Magnum!" Hirano cried with stars in his eyes as he turned the gun to admire every angle. "Wow! The craftsmanship is amazing although rather clunky! Man, I can't wait to-!" James suddenly silenced Hirano with a flick to the back of his ear.

"Shh!" James frowned, stepping past the embarrassed otaku into the cave followed by Emerald. The massive female raptor managed to squeeze her bulk through the cramped tunnel as quietly as she could as James crept through the pitch black tunnel. Feeling along the damp dirt walls of the tunnel with his gloved hands as he made his way down the tunnel until he finally caught up with Showk. His men at his back as he lifted a hand to halt them.

Peeking around the corner, Showk scanned the tunnel which had been hidden by a wall of dirt with only a tennis ball sized rock to serve as a peek hole. Once he deemed the coast was clear. He stepped back and slammed his shoulder into the dirt wall, bringing it down.

"Let's go," Showk whispered, stepping out of the tunnel into the faint torchlight that barely illuminated the massive mining tunnel before them.

Following behind Showks men, James quickly turned to put out a torch hanging close beside the tunnel Emerald and the others were exiting out of. This way it would hide their point of entry and prevent the others from being spotted.

"Stay here, Emerald," James ordered as the large female raptor poked her head out of the tunnel. Acknowledging him with a low growl and squeezing the rest of her large body outside of the tunnel.

Leaving Emerald to wait on the others, James quickly and silently caught up with the rest of the war party. Who stood at a corner waiting on him.

When he approached them, Showk lifted a finger to his lips. Signaling him to be quiet. Nodding, James crouched down with the rest of the men and looked around the corner to find two guards with their backs to them at the entrance of the mine.

"Ok, we need to sneak past those two in order to get inside the camp. Once inside, I want Josh and Mark to position themselves at the tower to the west. Jonathan, you're with me. We're going to take out the gunmen at the north tower. And James," he turned to the young castaway. "You take the tower on the east side of the camp."

Nodding in acknowledgment, James returned his gaze to the two guards stationed at the mouth of the tunnel. Drawing his hammer, him and Showk rounded the corner and stealthily crept up behind the two men. James taking the guy to the right while Showk went for the guy on the left.

Drawing his hammer back, he brought it down on the back of the man's skull with a sickening crack. Simultaneously, Showk wrapped his hand over the other guards mouth just as he was about to turn to investigate the sound of his friend's skull shattering, plunging his knife through the man's ribcage and into his heart. His face was void of all emotion as he heard the man's muffled scream of pain beneath his hand.

James managed to catch the limp body of the guard he took out and drag him into the depth's of the mine just as one of the guards in the north tower turned to gaze in another direction. Showk had already hidden the body of the guard and was creeping past James followed by his comrades into the shadows behind what must have been a bar. Partly due to the joyous merriment that was coming from within the buildings walls.

James frowned in disgust. They certainly weren't going to be celebrating for long!

Glancing up at the guard tower to the north, he could see the guard turn his back to him to speak to his fellow guardsmen. Giving him enough time to dart out of the cave behind another building and make his way to the western guard tower.

XXX

"Man, it's so dark in here!" Hirano whispered, making his way through the tunnel followed by Takashi and the girls.

"I hope the others are ok," Rei said, worriedly.

"They're capable men, Miyamoto-san. They know what they're doing." Saeko said, reassuringly. Following close behind Takashi and Hirano. Rei pursed her lips together. "I hope so," she murmured to herself. Following after the swordswoman.

Once Hirano had exited the tunnel, he readied his pistol. Scanned the area for any enemies. After standing in the shadows for a good five minutes and found no sign of any guards within the mines, he motioned his hand. Signaling that the coast was clear.

Takashi exited the tunnel behind Hirano with Saeko and Rei close behind. Takashi drew his stone hatchet. "Alright, remember what James-san said, stay quiet and in the shadows."

The girls nodded. Drawing their weapons.

"Yea, we are ninja's!" Hirano whispered, goofily. Bringing is shirt collar up to cover his mouth like an actual ninja hood. However, he was unaware of a pair of glowing blue orbs towering above him as Emerald walked up behind him.

Feeling the female raptors predator gaze rush over him as well as seeing Takashi and the girls slightly fearful expression. Hirano suddenly turned and yelped upon seeing the large raptor towering over him.

Emerald, however, silenced him with a snap of her jaws. Letting the sound of her teeth slamming together speak for themselves if he were to raise his voice any louder. Her alpha was within the enemies lair and she was not about to have this fat young male alert the enemy to their presence.

"Quiet, Hirano!" Saeko said, quietly. "It's just, Emerald-san."

"Just?" Hirano gulped, regarding how the female raptor had used to slam into the end of her cage and try to attack him whenever he'd walk by back at James former base.

Emerald snorted. Stomping past Hirano to scout the rest of the tunnel up ahead.

"Ok, follow Emerald-san," Takashi said. "She'll lead us to James and the others. They should have taken care of the guards in towers by now."

"Right!" Saeko and Rei nodded.

Hirano, however, was lost in thought and as he began to shower his new weapon with love and affection. "Oh it just feels so good to have a gun in my hand, again!" he crooned, petting the gun as if it were a live animal. "But, it doesn't compare to the Ar-10 I had back in Tokonosu."

A sudden feeling of sadness washed over him as he remembered his former home. How it had been lost to the undead and his parent's along with it. He had no way of contacting them so he did not know if they were even still alive.

Hirano sighed. "Well, it's not going to help just standing around here sulking about it. Alright, let's-" Hirano froze. He didn't see Takashi or the girls beside him.

"Uhh, Takashi?" He looked around. No sign of them. Or Emerald for that matter. Although that was more of a blessing than a problem.

"Rei-san? Saeko-san?" panic was starting to set in. "Shit, I better catch up to them." He began to jog down the large almost never ending tunnel until he was greeted by a crossroad's.

One tunnel leading to the left and the other to the right.

"Uhh. Eenie Meenie Miney Mo catch a tiger by the toe and you are it!" Kohta said, pointing his finger from the left tunnel to the right until his index finger finally landed on the tunnel to the right. Holding his gun close, he cautiously entered the tunnel to the right. Neglecting to notice the many boot prints leading to the tunnel on the left.

XXX

"There's nothing to be afraid of," Hirano assured himself. Creeping through the faint torchlight illuminating the tunnels." You know, aside from a group of murderous raiders and their pet dino's then yea that's something to definitely be afraid of!" Hirano was scaring himself more than motivating himself.

Walking through the long winding tunnel, Kohta quickly found himself standing in the doorway of a large dark opening in the mines.

"Takashi-san?" Kohta whispered into the cave, hearing his voice echo through the cave. "Saeko-san, Rei-san? Are you in here?" He cautiously stepped into the shadows of the cave. "Whelp, guess they're not here. Man, I knew I should have gone the other way!" Hirano chided himself. Turning around to stare down the path he had taken as he scratched the back of his head. Unaware of a hulking figure looming behind him. That said figure, unleashed a gush of air from its massive nostrils, prompting a certain otaku to cringe and turn ghostly white.

Slowly turning, Kohta gasped as he came face to face with a pair of glowing orange eyes with three long pointy horns jutting from its armored face. "Gaaaaaahhh!" Hirano screamed.

 _Rooooooooaaaaarrrrrrr!_ The figure roared, fearfully. Causing the terrified otaku to stumble backward. Falling to the ground, Hirano pointed his gun up at the figure. Crawling backward to give him some space between him and whatever _it_ was.

Unleashing another booming bellow, the figure reared back on its thick hind legs. Slamming its front ones down with a mighty thud which shook the entire cave. Causing some of the dirt above them to come loose and fall down in large clumps as the beast stomped into the torchlight. Revealing itself to be a small dark green Triceratops.

The beast jerked it's head towards Hirano, staring at him with it's piercing orange eyes. Kohta gulped at the sight of the creatures massive twin horns above its eyebrows aimed right at him as the beast stared at him. He cringed at the thought of being squired by such weapons. He shakily raised his gun to take aim at the creature.

The creature, seeing him raise his gun, flinched. It lowered its head and made a whining grunting sound. Backing away from the rather surprised otaku. Kohta lowered his gun upon seeing the creatures trembling flanks as it now tried to back away from him! Upon seeing the creature slam one of its tree trunk-like paws down in the torchlight, his eyes caught the shiny gleam of a metallic object wrapped around the creature's ankle. Looking down to find what appeared to be a shackled around its ankle which was attached to a large heavy chain binding it to another shackle on it hindleg.

The rattle of chains echoed through the cave now as the beast scrambled to get away from Hirano now.

Pity filled Hirano's eyes as he watched the creature wedge itself underneath an overhanging rock. Staring over at him fearfully while it lay there trembling beneath the large rock. He could faintly make out a few scar's lining the creatures sides within the faint torchlight.

This poor creature had been tortured by these people.

The creature gave another series of whining sounds as Hirano lowered his gun and placed it into his pocket. "Hey, hey, hey," Hirano whispered, lifting his hands up slowly. "It's ok. I'm not gonna hurt you."

The beast continued to tremble as Hirano slowly began to approach it with his hands raised. Speaking to it in a soft tone of voice. "It's ok. I'm not gonna hurt you." When he approached the hiding place of the creature, he got on is knees. The Trike stared up at the otaku with a mixture of fear and curiosity as he slowly extended a hand to its snout.

The Trike blew a gust of air from its nostril. Wanting to unleash another fearful roar until it felt Kohta's hand brush against its beak. The beast looked up at Hirano in surprise as he slowly stroked the creature's smooth beak.

"There, there, I'm not going to hurt you," Hirano smiled warmly. He guided his hand up the creature's beak, and bony frill until he reached its neck. Giving it a good scratch.

The Trike's eyes fluttered at the pleasure it was feeling from Hirano's scratching. It hadn't been able to reach that spot for days and now it was finally being relieved!

Hirano laughed as the Trikes tail began to thump up and down against the boulder. Obviously, it was taking his affection rather enthusiastically. "Good, boy." Hirano chuckled, getting back onto his feet. He stepped back a few feet to see if the Trike would come out of hiding. Sure enough, it did.

However, it bleated in pain. Looking down at its swollen ankles beneath the unforgiving iron shackles. Hirano frowned at the sight of the iron cuffs. "Hold on, I'm gonna try something, boy."

The Trike tilted its head questioningly as the otaku bent down, picking up a large rock in his hands and walked up to its side. Giving her a reassuring pat on the side. "Ok, I need you to hold still for a moment. Ok?"

The Trike, still unsure about the way her new friend was holding that rock within his hands, groaned lowly. Hirano felt the creatures muscles relax under his hand. Slowly, the beast lowered its girth to the ground. Leaning to the side to allow Hirano access to the shackles on its left leg and hind leg. Amazed slightly by the trust this creature was displaying towards him, he frowned. Determination welling up within his chest as he lifted the rock over his head and brought it down on the iron chain holding bondage to the Trikes front leg. The cave echoed with the metal ring of earth striking metal as Hirano repeatedly bashed the rock against the metal cuff. The Trike winced against every strike that was made against its entrapped leg but it did not panic nor moved.

This creature was placing the only sliver of trust and faith it has felt for a human for the first time in its life into Kohta. And he wasn't about to break that faith!

"YAHHHH!" Hirano cried. Placing the last reserve of his strength into his strike.

Shards of iron slid across the dirt floor of the cave as the chains parted beneath the force of both Hirano's strike and sheer force of will.

Hirano patted heavily, greatly fatigued from exerting himself for so long. "I will free you! I promise!" he gasped, undoing the cuff from her left foreleg and tossing it aside before removing the one on its hind leg.

The Trike stared at Hirano. It watched as this human put himself into utter exhaustion just to free its from bondage. It was not like the other humans which had captured it and hurt it for no reason what so ever.

The Trike jumped a little as Hirano suddenly spoke. "Alright, now for the next ones!"

As he moved to the cuffs on her right side, a series of noises echoed from the tunnel entrance. Prompting both Hirano and the Trike to lift their heads in alarm.

"Hey, I wonder if the boss'll let us kill that Trike now. I'm getting really fucking tired of wadding through giant shit piles every time I have to feed the stupid bastard." came a slurred voice. The dim torchlight within the cave began to brighten as three large men decorated in sets of bone armor stepped into the cave. They reeked with alcohol and filth.

Hirano gulped as the three men suddenly caught sight of him as their torchlight washed over him.

"The hell?" the man on the right squinted his eyes beneath his helmet to figure out if the booze was getting to him or if they had an actual invader inside their mines. "Hey, you! What are you doing in here?"

Hirano held one hand up, while hiding his gun in his back pocket with the other hand before slowly rising it.

"One your feet!" the man in the center ordered. "Now!"

Hirano had no choice but to obey. He could see a long rifle in each of the men's hands and they were all pointed directly at him.

"Hey... wait a sec." The man on the right lowered his gun. Squinting to get a better look at Hirano. "I recognize this one! He was with that James fucker that killed Marcus! You know, when we raided that kids base and the boss told us to kill them all and keep the women alive!"

Hirano froze. Both fear and anger apparent in his eyes. These were men were a part of the raiding party that sacked James home!

"Yea, now that you mentioned it..." The man in the center stepped towards Hirano. Slamming the butt of his rifle into his cheek. Hirano's teeth rattled against the force of the man's blow. He could taste his own blood within his mouth as he fell to the ground with a sharp yelp.

"Kind of makes you wonder why he's here by himself." The man said, towering above Hirano. Hirano rolled onto his back, staring up fearfully at the man as he pointed his rifle between his eyes. "Alert the entire camp. He's obviously not alone!"

Hirano smashed his eyes shut. Preparing to feel the cold kiss of steel parting his skull and strike his brain.

An ungodly shriek echoed around him as the Trike suddenly exploded from the sidelines, having backed away from the three men, and slammed its horned head into the man. Sending him flying across the cave and into the stone wall. The man was killed instantly by the force of the Trikes strike, falling to the ground limply beside Hirano. The otaku yelped, scrambling away from the broken body of the raider as the Trike turned its attention to the two remaining raiders who swore out loud at the death of their comrade.

The Trike left them no time to turn and run or raise their weapons as it charged forward. The unholy sound of flesh parting from bone boomed in Hirano's ears. He watched in shock as the Trike impaled one raider in the chest with its twin horns. The raider gave a hoarse gasp of pain, blood seeping from the wound on his chest. Blood welled up in his throat and oozed down his chin in a dark river of gore as the Trike tossed its head to the side. Striking the remaining raider, who had been to shocked by the death of his comrades to move, and struck the final raider with its bony armor plated skull. Shattering the man's ribs, chest plate and skull as well as flinging the raider impaled on its horns away.

The struggle had ended as quickly as it had started. Hirano could only stare at each of the raiders bodies in utter amazement as the Trike lumbered towards him. Laying its massive head in his lap and closing its eyes.

It... it had protected him.

Hirano continued to regard the three fallen raiders corpses. Feeling slightly disturbed at how easily the Trike had managed to finish them off. _'He could have easily done the same thing to me!'_ Kohta muttered mentally.

He pressed his fingers through the small creases along the trikes bony frill. Finding it best to calm the massive beast before going any further.

Aaaaaaaand cliffhanger! I know, hate me later but I will get the rest of the raid written up and published as soon as a can. But, first off, thank you for all the support you are giving this story. I really appreciate all the comment's, thoughts and ideas and I hope you keep them coming. Your support is much appreciated.

Another note, my good friend Scriffignano has drawn a depiction of James and Emerald on DeviantArt. Go check it out and give it a thumbs up. It's pretty awesome. He has also got his own Ark story going for him so go check it out!

And one final note, I have decided to take up two more fanfiction projects. My second and third stories I might add. And that would be a story revolving around Until Dawn and The Isle. But due note, Ark will be the first and foremost of these stories, I assure you. Give me your thoughts on this idea and have a nice summer!


	10. Chapter 9

I do not own Ark or HOTD.

A special thanks to Draco38 my beta reader!

Chapter 9 The Traitor

James silently made his way down the encampment wall. Keeping his eyes forward and his back to the wall as he slinked past a group of conversing men into the shadows of a neighboring building. Even though he was dressed as one of them doesn't mean they wouldn't recognize him. After all, there aren't very many teenagers that roam around with a band of murderous bandits.

However, it seemed that the bandits were beginning to lumber out of their living quarters and gather towards the center of the camp. Which was making it even more difficult for James to remain hidden.

He could only hope that Showk and his men were having better luck than he was. As well as for the safety of the Takashi and the girls.

As he made his way behind the building, he paused to allow two patrolling guards to pass by him. Once the immediate danger of discovery was past he rounded the building and briskly crept up to the bottom of a ladder. Which led up to the top of the guard tower above him.

Without hesitation, James quickly climbed up the ladder pausing only to slow his pace as he neared the top. He could hear the voices of the two guards as well.

"I hate guard duty," one of the guards muttered. James glanced upwards, hearing the man's footsteps upon the creaking wooden floor overhead.

"Same here," acknowledged the other guard. More footsteps followed in sync with the other guards pace. Eventually stopping to the far left of the platform. "Wish Joseph would just give us the order to just wipe those Swamp Lotus fuckers off the face of Ark. Instead of having us sit around staring at the fucking swamp all night. This place is fucking creepy."

"Yeah, no kidding," agreed the other guard.

While the two men were busy talking, James slowly peeked his head through the gap beneath the trap door. Seeing the two men's back facing him. Slowly, James lifted the trap door off his head. Taking care to pause in-between the two men's short bouts of silence, only moving once they began to talk again.

James lowered the trap door onto the floor and entered. Straightening himself, he turned towards the two covering guards. Slowly drawing his hammer from his hip, he quietly began to approach them.

One of the guards spotted something flashing within the northern guard tower. "The hell is that?" the guard wondered, squinting his eyes to make out what was creating the flash.

James, however, knew exactly what it was. It was his cue. Dashing across the floor, he brought his hammer down on the back of the guards head, killing him instantly. He moved to restrain the remaining guard but the man was quick to react. Bringing his arm up, he caught James arm in his sweaty beefy hands. Pulling his free hand back, he formed a fist and threw a punch.

James managed to grab the man's fist in his other hand. Keeping it from breaking his nose. Drawing his head back, he slammed his forehead into the center of the man's face, breaking his nose and allowing him to yank his arm out of his hand. Staggering backwards, the guard clasped his injured face within his hands, howling in pain.

James moved to finish him off with a blow to the head but received a punch to the side of the head. The man had quickly recovered from the pain of a broken nose and was now seething with rage.

James reeled from the force of the man's strike. Having to catch himself from falling onto the hard floor with one hand. Dropping his hammer as he regained his balance, the man lunged towards him. Ducking under a strike meant for his forehead, James threw a quick jab at the man's side. Hearing the man's ribs break beneath his fist and take the breath away from his assailant.

The man staggered to the side. Coughing and gasping. Grabbing the man's shoulder, James delivered a right cross. Then followed with a left cross and another right. Placing his weight in one final strike, he delivered a devastating right punch knocking the man to the ground.

Standing over the fallen man, James panted heavily from adrenaline and slight exhaustion. The man was down but not for long as he scrambled to get to his fallen comrades gun which lay discarded across the floor beside the raiders corpse. Running up to the man, James picked his hammer up in mid-sprint and struck the rifle aside as the man whipped it around. Causing him to misfire and shoot the wooden ceiling overhead.

Slamming his knees on the man's shoulders, James pinned him to the floor and waylaid his hammer against the man's face. Breaking his skull open, revealing his brains and splattering blood across the floor and James's chest with each strike of his hammer.

Slamming his hammer one final time in the crater of what was once the face of a man, James gasped greatly winded from his fight. Licking his dry lips, his face twisted in disgust at the feeling of a shard of the man's skull in his mouth. Spitting it out with great disgust.

Looking down at the camp below, he could see a swarm of bandits heading right for the guard tower. They had obviously heard the sound of the gunshot.

"Shit!" James growled. Running over to the trap door, he looked down to see several men clamber up the ladder. One of them growled upon seeing him, shouting, "Up here! We got an intruder!"

Slamming the trap door shut. James ran over to the wooden rails of the guard tower. Looking down the towers sides, he tried to find the safest way down possible. At least one that didn't involve pikes and arrows or a couple of broken legs from falling too high.

The left side leading towards the main part of the camp was swarming with raiders. A line of archers lined themselves behind the back of the horde scrambling to get up the tower, their bows drawn to shoot him out of the tower.

"Fucking hell!" James said, turning his head as a raider threw the trap door open. He scrambled to get inside the tower and drew a pike from his back.

"Leap of faith, man!" James shout, given no time to plan ahead. He jumped over the wooden railing. Wrapping his arms around the towers wooden support, he tried to shimmy down the side of the tower. However, that was proven ineffective as an arrow embedded itself in the wood just above his head. James looked down to see another arrow fly past his face. The archers reloaded their bow strings and took aim at him once again.

"Shit, shit, shit!" James yelled repeatedly beginning to panic. Looking over the wall bordering the tower from the rest of the camp, James braced his muscles and leaped across the gap. Grabbing onto the wall and vaulting over as another volley of arrows followed behind him. He fell down the wall, trying to land on his feet but misstepped and fell down a pit. Landing on his side.

"AH, shit!?" James groaned, his vision was blurred and his back and shoulders screamed with pain from the force of his landing. Rubbing the side of his head, he tried to get to his feet. Suddenly, a shrill shriek caught him off guard. He jumped backwards, feeling his back hit the firm dirt wall of the pit as a pair of leathery wings suddenly blotted out the dim torchlight overhead.

James smashed his eyes shut as whatever was in the pit with him unleashed another ungodly screech. The clatter of metal chains rang in his ears as the creature began to tug against it in sheer panic. Once the creatures had removed its wings over his head, allowing the light of the torches inside, James found that the frantic beast was an imprisoned pterosaur.

Thick iron cuffs were laced around the creatures thrashing arms and legs as well as its slender neck. Binding the creature to the walls of the pit were heavy steel chains, the metal bonds of injustice rattled loudly in James' ears as the pterosaur once again tried to flap its wings and escape the center of the pit. Only to fall onto its back with a pained squawk.

James stared at the imprisoned pterosaur with a mixture of pity and remorse. Looking down at the fallen creature while it laid on his stomach, gasping for air, he could see that its right wing was twisted in an odd direction. It was broken.

' _He must of hurt himself trying to get out of here.'_ James said in his mind, greatly saddened by the poor state that had befallen on such a majestic creature. His sadness quickly morphed into rage when he saw a jagged tear in the leathery flaps of the pterosaurs broken wing. These bastards must have wounded him while he was flying with their guns. It's a common practice for the Southern Raiders to capture their flying mounts by shooting a hole in their wings and bringing them down to earth. However, due to this harsh method of capture and the hollow bones of the frail beasts; most pterosaurs don't survive their landing.

And those that do risk permeant life injuries that ends with their inevitable demise at the hands of their captures. Which usually with them being thrown into the stables of their ravenous carnivorous pets!

Once the beast had finally calmed down, propping itself back on its feet. James was able to get a good look at the strange looking pterosaur. At first, he thought it was a Pteranodon, but upon seeing the creature's noticeably smaller beak and imposing rudder-like fin, he discovered that it was Tapejara. A very severely malnourished Tapejara. He had never seen one before, especially this close!

It was a beautiful creature. Beneath the sheet of dirt and filth that covered its soft hide was a glorious shade of electric blue with streaks of white across its wings. Its fin-like crest was a deep shade of blue with a single jet black spot on both sides. Tapejara were renown for their amazing agility and impressive physical strength. These creatures were the warplanes of Ark, built aerial combat. Whereas the more common and faster Pteranodon was more comparable to fighter jets, relying on their speed, and stamina for hit and run combat situations.

The Tapejara regarded the young castaway with a fearful stare. Its chest heaved with exhaustion. It gave another shrill cry as James took a step towards it.

"Whoa there, beautiful!" James said softly, holding his hands up. "I'm not gonna hurt you!" Cautiously approaching the injured and spooked pterosaur. Pterosaurs were remarkably intelligent creatures, although far from the predatory cunning of an Utahraptor, but were very skittish and reclusive creatures.

Tossing its head back, the frightened flyer squawked in terror, threatening to create another outburst that would undoubtedly result in even more injury to the already wounded and stressed creature.

"This isn't going to work." James sighed. Hearing the stampede of footsteps overhead, James whipped his head up in alarm. Hearing the raiders clamoring voices over one another as they continued their search for him.

Once their footsteps had passed, James hissed under his breath, "Stupid bastards." and propped his back against the wall of the pit. Sighing, he closed his eyes and reached into his pants pocket. Pulling out a handful of Azulberries that he had taken from the tavern back at the village.

Opening his mouth, he tossed one of the berries into his mouth, relishing in the sweet taste of the delicious fruit. Popping his mouth open, he prepared to eat another berry until a curious squawk caught his attention. Looking to see the Tapejara tilting its head, regarding the berries in his hands hungrily and with great interest.

Raising an eyebrow, he stared at the pterosaur questioningly. Following its gaze down to the berries in his hand. Quickly putting two and two together.

He smirked, "Hungry are we?" He held a berry up, tossing it towards the pterosaur. Landing right at the creatures feet. Bending down, the Tapejara gave the berry a curious poke with its beak before carefully grabbing the plump berry with its beak and swallowing it. After consuming its tasty treat, the pterosaur scanned the floor for another berry. Looking up at James expectantly once it didn't find another one.

Smiling, James tossed it another berry which it picked up hungrily. Taking another step closer, James tossed it another berry. Moving another step closer as it ate it before tossing it another one and repeating the same action. Until finally, he was standing three feet in front of the imprison pterosaur.

Extending his hand, he offered the rest of the berries to the creature. The Tapejara stared at him for a silent moment, then, slowly extended its neck out. Eyeing him cautiously as it took a berry from his hand. Bringing the rest of its body forward, the beast rested itself in a more comfortable position as it took another berry from James' hand. Allowing its injured arm-like wing to rest on James' knee as he gently sat the berries on the ground. The Tapejara didn't seem to mind this action and continued to eat the rest of the berries off the ground as James drew his stone knife. Wedging the stone blade of the weapon in-between the iron hook locking the cuff to the chain. Wiggling his knife around carefully, he began to bend the iron hook into more of a straight line. Once the jagged hook had been molded into more of a crooked straight piece of metal, James sat his knife down and gently slide the hook out of the holds of the cuff. Letting it to fall uselessly to the floor. He picked up his knife and moved onto the next cuff on the creature's uninjured wing while it was still eating.

"There!" James sighed as he removed the last cuff from the Tapejara's left hind leg, wiping the sweat from his forehead. The creature finally finished eating and lifted its uninjured wing to look at James curiously. He tossed the metal cuff aside and stood up, patting the creature on the back of the neck which surprised the Tapejara. James paid no mind to the creatures skittish nature and stared up the hole.

"Now, to get you out of here!" James said. The pit was fairly deep but not enough to have to be climbable. Leaping up, his fingers sunk into the firm dirt of the top soil. Granting him enough leverage to heave himself up.

However, spotting two men accompanied by a large group of fighters made him duck his head back into the pit.

"Shit!" James whispered, landing back in the pit. The Tapejara squawked in alarm but James silenced it by wrapping his hands around its short beak. Petting it on its bony neck to calm it down. While he continued to calm the startled Pterosaur, he looked up at the edge of the pit as he heard the two men begin to talk.

"You didn't tell me that insolent teenage brat was here!" James tilted his ears towards the top of the pit, honing in on the conversation with great interest. Especially with the mention of his arrival.

"It was a change of plans. The bastard showed up two nights ago with a group of teenage brats." Spat a familiar hoarse voice. Hearing their footsteps approach the edge of the pit, James ducked under the Tapejara's body. The beast fidgeted uneasily but James gave it a reassuring pat on its bony chest. Looking out from under the beast. James found a large giant of a man with dreadlocks and only a pair of hide pants and boots walking into view from the edge of the pit.

And at his side, was Tar.

James widened his eyes, gritting his teeth at the sight of the familiar man as he followed behind the giant man.

"I thought you said your men took care of him?" Tar interjected.

The man, having stopped in his tracks, whipped around to face the traitor, looming over him threateningly. "I said I thought we did! Do not put words in my mouth again or you will befall the same fate as your leader, you lowly sack of Carno shit!"

Tar grimaced, anger apparent in his gaze but he held his tongue.

James swallowed hard. He recognized the brute of a man as Ajax, the trusted general and right-hand man of Leonidas himself. He heard stories of this man. He toward over all men, standing at an imposing height of 6'9 and was built like a . He never wore armor. Choosing to intimidate his opponents with his impossibly built musculature which donned many jagged and faded scars. He was renowned for his fearlessness in battle as well as his berserker rage. There were even rumors of this man slaying a Tyrannosaurus with nothing but his bare hands! Although this is a tall tale, but that doesn't mean he's not a vicious opponent.

"Now then," Ajax growled, looking over Tar at his men. "Find this little brat. But take him alive! Leonidas wants to end this little thorn in his side personally before he can cause more trouble than he already has. And be wary, the bastard may be young but he's a vicious warrior!"

The men brought their right hands up to their chests in the form of fists, saluting him before marching away.

"Why go through all this trouble for one little boy?" Tar inquired. "Shouldn't you be more interested in my former leader than a bratty teenager?"

Ajax snorted, "Do not underestimate this young lad!" he boomed. "The Broken Toe tribe reveres him as a war hero! This 'boy' has single-handedly stopped a civil war. He's also been trained by the Broken Toe tribe who are vicious warriors in their own right."

"Yes, yes, I know this! I've heard the stories revolving around this young man!" Tar said, waving off Ajax's supposed praise of the young castaway. "But from what I've heard, you have some sort of leverage over this young man?"

"Yes," Ajax grunted. "We captured that young female general of the Broken Toe tribe about a month ago. If the bastard won't come willingly, we'll just use her to bring him in. After all, the two seem to have quite the history together." Turning his back to Tar, he began to walk away. "I'm heading back to Athens. See to your village once you handle your 'former' leader." he said, walking out of James sight from within the pit.

James' body shook with rage. He clenched his teeth, hard. They began to ache and were on the verge of cracking until James managed to get his temper under control. Closing his eyes, he quietly took a deep breath, then silently exhaled.

Repeating this action for about a minute before opening his eyes. Looking up, he found that Tar was gone. Crawling out from underneath the Tapejara, who tilted its head questioningly at James as he jumped up and grabbed the edge of the pit, lifting his head up to scan for Tar or any other enemies.

Seeing Tar's retreating figure up ahead, James frowned. Lifting himself over the edge, he stood up. Looking down as he heard a small questioning squawk.

"I'll come back for you," James assured the pterosaur and with that he stealthily made his way after the traitor. Knowing that some misfortune must have befallen his leader, Showk.

XXX

AAAAAAAAAAAAAND another cliffhanger! Please don't kill me!

Don't forget to check out Scriffignano's story too cuz it's getting juicier with every chapter too!

Don't forget to follow, favorite, review!

A special thanks to Draco38 my beta reader!

Side note: A shout out to Draco38 for creating the Trike for Hirano!


	11. Chapter 10

I do not own HOTD or Ark.

A special thanks to Draco38 my beta reader.

Chapter 10 The Traitor

Hidden amongst the dense foliage lining the wooden walls of the encampment, James silently tailed Tar. He was fighting the urge to explode from his hiding spot and end his life right here! However, if he did that, then he wouldn't be able to find Showk and his men.

The traitor was walking towards the center of the camp where a large group of men had converged. Mocking laughter and flesh hitting flesh could be heard amongst the crowd of men. As Tar approached the roaring crowd, the wave of men parted to reveal a heavily wounded man in the center. Lying on his back with a large raider on top of him, slamming his fist into his face, covering it and his hand in the fallen man's blood.

James gritted his teeth. His entire body shook with rage as he watched Tar lift his hand and beckon the large man to release his victim. The raider reluctantly followed the crooked man's orders but not without throwing one last punch to the man's face before getting up and joining the rest of his comrades.

Tar stood over the injured man with an arrogant smirk. "Well... things didn't exactly turn out as planned. Did that, Showk?"

The man revealed to be Showk, weakly lifted his head off the ground. James widened his eyes at the sight of the once proud and strong village leader now lying injured and mortally wounded before him. Especially at the feet of this traitor!

"Fuck... you... you traitor!" Showk managed to rasp, baring his bloodied teeth. This act of defiance, however, earned him a kick to the ribs from one of the men within the crowd.

"Temper, temper," Tar shook his head, tsk-tsking his fallen leader while he lay before him, gasping for breath. "You see, I'm not the traitor here! I'm simply doing what has to be done for the survival of our tribe!"

"And what is that?" Showk coughed, spitting a glob of blood onto the ground. Getting to his hands and knees. "Turning us into bandits? Having us murder women and children and sack other villages for their resources?" Showk lifted his head, glaring at Tar with intense hatred. "To become the very people we despise?!"

Tar frowned. He stared at his former leader in silence as he fought to get to his feet. "These... monsters kill people. They KILL people, Tar! _Innocent_ people! Women and even little children! You have seen firsthand what these monsters are capable of and yet you join them?!" Showk's voice rang through the camp, echoing across the still air. James gave a silent nod to the wounded leader. Even though he was injured and greatly outnumbered, he stood his ground and spoke out against the tyranny of this band of murderers.

Tars' frown deepened. "It is survival of the fittest, Showk. All those former tribe members we had lost were weak!" he spat. "Only the strong survive and the weak PERISH!"

The men surrounding Tar cheered. Voicing their approval to the traitors new set of ideals. Amongst the chatter, Showk, seething with rage, lunged for the traitor.

"You son of a bitch! I'll kill you!" he roared, punching Tar in the face. Tar cried out in pain, falling to the ground. Holding his hands up to shield his face as Showk landed on top of him, preparing to beat him senseless until several of the men within the crowd surged forward, tackling Showk off of the fallen traitor.

Showk, however, in his fit of rage, tried fighting back. Successfully knocking two of his attacker's unconscious but was quickly overwhelmed and brought to his knees.

Tar whimpered, getting back on his feet. Bringing a shaky hand up, he lightly touched his lip, pulling his hand back to find a large droplet of blood on his fingers.

"You..." his voice shook with anger. He tossed his head back, glaring at Showk with a crazed look in his eyes. "I'LL KILL YOU!" he screamed. The men around him jumped at the pitch Tars voice reached. The now crazed man screeched at the group of men behind Showk. "BRING THE REST OF THE PRISONERS! I WANT TO SHOW MY 'FORMER' LEADER WHAT HAPPENS TO THOSE WHO DARE OPPOSE ME!"

James cringed from the volume of Tar's hysterical shrieking as did the men he ordered. At first, they looked at each other questioningly, trying to decide if they wanted to take orders from such a sniveling coward. However, a thundering roar made them think twice.

James widened his eyes as a trio of raiders led a large, fully saddled theropod into the center of the camp. The beast was large, slightly larger than a Carnotaurus and blood red in color with a coat of silvery proto-feathers.

James grimaced. He recognized this creature to be a Megalosaurus, a vicious hunter of the night. This beast, although much smaller than a lot of the other carnivores of the island, was a head taller than an average Carnotaurus.

How the hell did they tame one of these beasts? And if so, where did they find it? Megalosaurus' weren't native to the Writhing Swamps. They were more commonly seen in the northern mountains and redwood forests.

Seeing such an imposing and ferocious beast made James come to a spin chilling conclusion. The Southern Raiders were coming in force!

James watched as the men leading the ravenous theropod come to a halt. Unhooking the lead ropes tethered to the beast saddle. One of the men kneeled and gave Tar hand up onto the saddle.

The beast snarled quietly, glaring down at the crowd of men before it with a hungry reptilian glare.

Showk, horrified by the sight this foreign creature, sat rooted to his spot. Unable to take his eyes off the razor sharp teeth hanging above his head as Tar moved his beast closer, so that it's hungry jaws hovered just above Showk's head.

"My beast hasn't eaten for quite some time," Tar cackled crazily. He grinned wickedly. The Megalosaurus lifted its scaly lips as confirmation to its master's words revealing a set of yellow stained razor teeth that were itching to devour Showk's fear stricken form whole.

The beast leaned its jaws downward, in a motion that made James fear that the village leader would be devoured right in front of him. However, Tar pulled on the reins, jeering the creatures head to the side. Causing the beast to miss its intended target and bite the air with a quiet crunch.

"Now, now," Tar cooed. He leaned down and patted the beast on its feathered neck. "You'll get to have him soon enough." He glared down darkly at Showk, who could only return the glare with his own as Tars men returned with their captives.

Except with more prisoners than James anticipated.

Four men were forced onto their knees beside Showk. James widened his eyes, recognizing one of them to be Takashi. At the sidelines, directly at the front of the crowd, were Saeko and Rei. Their hands were held behind their backs by two men. The men gruffed as the two women began to struggle but to no avail.

"Let us go, you asshat!" Rei snarled, trying to yank her hands out of the man's sweaty iron strength grip. The man behind her simply laughed and kneed her in the back. Rei gave a sharp cry from the force of the man's hit as she fell to her knees.

Saeko gritted her teeth; she lunged toward the man holding Rei but could not force herself out of her captures grip. She too was swiftly brought to her knees.

James snarled. He surged forward, exposing only his head and shoulder before being yanked back into the bushes forcefully by an unknown individual. Whirling around, James drew his hammer. Ready to fight, but paused when he came face to face with a familiar pair of blue eyes.

"Emerald?" James whispered, questioningly.

His beta gave an acknowledging trill. Within the faint torchlight that peered into their secluded hiding spot, James could make out the faint gleam of red along her jaws. Obviously, she had a little scuffle before she found him and won.

Right on cue; a fear-stricken raider stumbled into the clearing, his eyes wide with fright.

"Raptor!" the man screamed, hysterically. Looking behind him as he dashed towards the circle of men. Running straight into the muscular leg of Tar's Megalosaurus. The beast snarled a warning to the stranger as he fell to the ground. Prompting the man to exclaim in fright at the sight of the large carnivore.

Tar stared down at the man impatiently from atop his mount. "Did you find the boy?" he grunted.

"N-No, sir. But we found his pet!" the man stammered, getting up.

"Well? Did you kill it?"

The man froze then hesitantly answered.

"N-No, sir?"

"And why is that?"

The man stared up at Tar, taken aback by this question as if shocked that this guy would ask such a question.

"Sir, that raptor slaughtered them! It... it killed all of them!" he screamed hysterically. "There were ten of us and she just picked us off one by one! I barely managed to make it back alive while she finished off the rest of my party!"

James raised an eyebrow. Tossing Emerald a sideways glance as she peered past him. Locking her eyes on the one human that managed to escape her jaws.

' _Damn. I knew you were vicious but color me impressed!'_ James muttered, mentally. He was greatly impressed by Emeralds intelligence as well as his combat prowess, although he already knew how vicious she was on the battlefield. After all, he did fight her and her pack for several months after he claimed his old home within her territory.

Seeing that the men, especially Tar's Megalosaurus, were busy listening to the frighten raiders ramblings. James took the opportunity to plan his rescue attempt. Looking around the camp, James scanned for a way to use the environment to his advantage.

Sure enough, he found his opening. Just on the other side of the camp was one of the watchtowers Showk and his men were tasked to take out. Seeing the unkempt brush lining the legs of the tower as well as along the wall of the camp gave James an idea.

He would start a fire. Fire traveled quickly and would devastate the entire camp, either driving the raiders out of their camp or burning them to ash in the process. Whatever the outcome may be, James knew that as soon as he started it he would have to end this. Quickly!

Moving through the foliage silently, James slowly made his way along the wall towards the tower. While listening in on what was going on, he'd occasionally throw a quick glance at the crowd of men to make sure his footsteps were not being heard. Emerald, having seen her alpha creep past her stealthily, followed close behind him.

Tar was not impressed by this news. "So, you ran away and left your comrades to perish? When you could have helped with the fight instead?"

The man paused. Once again, taken aback by Tars question.

"S-Sir, I ran because I-"

"You ran because you were a coward!" Tar retorted, glaring down at the man with venomous intent in his eyes.

The man opened his mouth to defend himself. However, he did not live to give his excuse. Tar, with two taps to the creature's sides, commanded the Megalosaurus to attack.

The beast obediently followed his master's command; it snatched the man up in its jaws, growling as it shook its head rapidly. The man's muffled screams could be heard within the monster's maw but were quickly silenced with another snap of its jaws, killing the man in one gory bite.

Satisfied with his beasts kill, Tar pulled on the reins, commanding it to release its recent kill. Swinging its head, the Megalosaurus tossed the limp body of the man aside and into the darkness.

The rest of the men shifted nervously as the Megalosaurus turned its attention back to them, fresh blood dripping from its yellow teeth and scaly chin.

"This is the price you pay if any of you defy my orders!" Tar bellowed. "I gave your former comrade a simple order. If you see the boy or his pet, kill the fucking raptor, and bring the boy back alive. And what did he do?" he asked, staring down at the crowd of men expectantly.

After receiving no answer, Tar answered for them. "He ran! Abandoning his comrades AND his orders, just because he was afraid of some overgrown iguana!"

The crowd of men said nothing. Instead, they stared at the traitor's Megalosaurus fearfully as it stomped up to the four male prisoners lined up before the crowd.

Showk, having been silent during the entire event, gritted his teeth, glaring up hatefully at Tar. "You would kill your own men?!"

"I killed him because I could no longer trust him. After all, how could I entrust my life and the lives of my men in the hands of a coward?" Tar said, darkly. "That doesn't matter now. I think our little game ends here!" He urged his beast closer to Showk.

"So tell me, Showk. How do you choose to die?"

 **AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND Cliffhanger. Again! Sorry folks, gotta keep it simple. Enjoy and happy Independence Day. Even though this is a day late!**

 **And don't forget to check out Scriffignano's story guys! It keeps getting better and better as well! Also, head to and check out Flameal15k's ark story, be sure to give him all the support you guys give me! Enjoy and as always, thanks!**


	12. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own Ark or Hotd, just James.

Special thanks to Bob the kraken and Draco38 as my beta reader!

Chapter 11 The Battle

Tar's Megalosaurus slowly approached Showk. Showk clenched his teeth, watching as the beast slowly opened its jaws, preparing to engulf the man in its voracious jaws. He closed his eyes; bracing himself for the searing pain of the creature's fangs sinking into his flesh. He imagined his own blood sprouting from his severed torso.

The beast stopped in its tracks. He held his breath, expecting for the creature to suddenly snap him up in one bite. Instead, the beast roared fearfully. The ground began to shake beneath Showk's knees as the beast stomped backwards again, roaring fearfully. Puzzled, Showk opened his eyes. He was greeted by a shimmering orange glow that was slowly starting to grow in intensity.

"Fire!" Cried one of the men behind him.

Showk watched as the raising flames quickly overtook a small building before climbing up the wooden walls of the camp, slithering along to wall before descending upon another neighboring building. Panic set into the men behind him. They were raising their voices over one another, trying to figure out how the fire could have started. Tar's Megalosaurus was out of control. The beast roared in terror as the ever-growing flames quickly surrounded it. Tar fought for control over the beast, swearing out loud as it frantically tugged against its reins.

"What the fuck's going on?" Takashi exclaimed, astonished by how the fire had spontaneously appeared. Not to mention concerned by the incoming seething blaze that threatened to burn him to a crisp.

Showk stared at the towering flames, knowing full well who had started the fire.

XXX

This was it! James exploded from behind the flames, dashing into the crowd of men. Many of them exclaimed out loud as James barreled into the man holding Saeko, clotheslining him and his comrade beside him with his stone hammer.

"Quick, on your feet!" James shouted, ducking under an incoming pike. He brought his hammer upwards, shattering his assailants lower jaw. Saeko complied, immediately raising to her feet. Drawing her sword from its sheath, she delivered a swift downward strike at an incoming raider, completely cutting through his soft leather armor and exposing his insides. Letting the man fall to his knees while staring at his exposed internal organs, Saeko stabbed the man in the center of the chest.

Pulling her blade from her opponent's limp corpse, she kneeled down beside Rei. "On your feet Rei-san, quickly!" the swordswomen urged. She looked up to see a man with a metal hatchet running towards her. His weapon raised above his head as he prepared to strike the swordswomen down. Frowning, Saeko raised her sword and parried his strike and quickly followed up with a slash to the hand holding the weapon, completely severing it. The man, now in great pain, slumped forward onto his knees and screamed in agony while clasping the bleeding stump that was once his right hand. Saeko smirked, bringing the tip of her sword directly under the man's chin and lifting his head to make him look her in the eyes.

Her cold blue eyes did not possess an ounce of mercy for him. Instead, they were dancing with murderous glee!

"You should not be so obvious with your attacks. A newborn could see such an attack a mile away," She chided coldly, lowering her blade from her opponent's chin. Tears of pain streamed down the man's face. He could only watch in horror as Saeko raised her sword over her head to finish him off. Suddenly, a wooden spear plunged into his rib cage. The wounded man widened his eyes and gave a hoarse gasp of pain.

Rei, who was now on her feet, finished the man off before Saeko could. Pulling her spear out of the man's ribs, she let him fall backwards. She had put him out of his misery.

"What is wrong with you?!" Rei snarled, glaring at Saeko who stood motionless with her sword raised. "We have a fight on our hands and all you can do is play executioner?!" Saeko's icy stare sent chills down Rei's spin as she fixated her gaze from her fallen foe to the interfering spear wielder. "Duck," she simply said.

Puzzled by this out of context command, Rei quickly complied as hurried footsteps and a harsh battle cry came into hearing. Reacting on instinct, she crouched down lower just as Saeko brought her sword down on their attacker, slitting his throat with one swift blow. The man fell backwards. Gagging and gargling on his own blood. Rei watched with horror filled eyes as the man's eyes bulged. His face was a deathly pale white; he wrapped his hands around his throat in a desperate attempt to keep himself from bleeding out. Blood spewed from his mouth as he fought for air. Finally, his struggling stopped and his grip loosened around his throat. The rest of his lifeblood seeped onto the ground, creating a puddle of gore.

While Rei's horror-stricken gaze was focused on the deceased raiders form. Saeko quickly ended two more adversaries as they attempted to rush her. Seeing the spear-women frozen in horror, Saeko gritted her teeth.

"Rei, snap out of it!"

Rei, upon hearing her name, turned her head and looked at Saeko. Her blank hazel eyes meet stone cold blue.

"Takashi-kun and James-kun need us! So get your ass in gear and fight!" she snarled, surprising Rei. The spear wielder shook her head. Recovering from her shock and lifting her spear she unleashed a battle cry as she charged forward.

James bashed another raider in the side of the head, dropping him instantly. Spinning around, he round-housed another man attempting to rush him and knocked him to the ground. Moving forward, James brought his weapon down on the man's forehead, ending him where he lay. Standing up, James was greeted by five more men. Each held a malicious intent in their dark eyes as they stood before him, lined up side by side.

"Kill em!" the man in the center snarled, drawing his pike.

James snorted. Pressing his fingers to his lips, he whistled sharply. A roar sounded behind the men. Emerald, having waited for her alpha's command, erupted from behind the sheet of fire. Tackling the man in the center; she bit down on the back of his neck and snapped it with one harsh twist. Turning her attention to the man on her left, Emerald snarled and slammed her head into his armored chest before he could react, cracking the chitin plating and knocking the man backwards into his comrade and sent both of them sliding across the blackened earth.

The remaining two raiders behind her raised their weapons, uttering their battle cries, and charged. Emerald rounded on the two approaching raiders, unleashing a fearsome roar of her own.

One of the men foolishly stopped in his tracks. His eyes wide with terror and in realization of his foolish mistake. Emerald left the man no time to run; she swiped the man across his poorly armored throat peeling a chunk of chitin off along with a majority of the man's throat with it. Blood gushed from the exposed wound, pouring down the man's weathered armor in a river of gore.

The man gagged. His mouth gaped open like a dying fish. His suffering was quickly ended as Emerald tackled him to the ground. Enveloping the raiders helmed head within her jaws.

The final raider stopped in his tracks, giving an audible gasp of horror at the grisly death of his comrade. Emerald, having heard the man jerked her head up while simultaneously relieving the former raiders corpse of his head. The other man flinched. Emerald locked eyes with him. She could see the sheer terror the man was feeling deep within his eyes. Slowly loosening her jaws; the raiders severed head fell from her reddened fangs. It rolled across the blackened and bloodied earth right towards the other man's feet. From within the crushed chitin helmet, the paralyzed raider could make out the terrified facial features of his comrade's mutilated face.

With the last ounce of his courage gone, the man turned to flee. He never had a chance; Emerald was upon him in the blink of an eye, knocking him to the ground with a swift kick. The man landed with a yelp. He clambered to rise but a clawed foot slammed down on his back.

"No plea-!" the man never finished as Emerald plunged her wicked toe claw straight through his armored back into his spinal cord.

The man screamed in agony. His screams, however, went unheard and his death was not a pleasant one. James grimaced as Emerald slammed her jaws around the back of the raiders skull. Growling like a rabid dog as she shook and twisted her head. He could hear every bone in the man's neck and even his skull crack. Finally, the man's cries fell silent, and once Emerald was satisfied her prey was dead, she released the bloodied head. But not before she placed her clawed foot over his head and plunging the blood stained sickle-claw through the back of his skull.

James swallowed hard, having watched the entire fight among the sidelines. She was making sure he was properly dead. James had met a few survivors in his time on Ark that have survived mauling's from Utahraptors by playing dead. However, this left the survivors severely scarred and disfigured. Emeralds intelligence on this trick though, however, impressed James. It wasn't like the man would be able to exact any revenge anytime soon.

Drawing her attention back to James, Emeralds blazing blue eyes locked on him, A sharp, angry look that seemed to bore into his very being. She was...chiding him. James chuckled. He must have offended her by not participating in the fight. Raptors were pack animals, so that meant that ALL of them fought together as one.

And it would hurt their feelings if you did not fight by their side.

However, James wasn't used to fighting alongside a large carnivore. After all, he didn't know if he would accidently hit Emerald. Or if she would attack him by mistake.

But, this only showed that he still didn't quite trust Emerald complexly, even though he did tame her as his own. He continued to stare into Emeralds hurt blue eyes, suddenly mortified by his lack of trust for his own beta as well as the complete trust she had put into him.

"James!"

James blinked. He turned to see Takashi, and the girls run up to him with Showk's men carrying their wounded leader in tow.

"We need to get the fuck out of here man! This place is falling apart!" Takashi winced as a building close to them suddenly collapsed into a smoldering pile of fiery timber. "No, not before I deal with Tar," James proclaimed. He raised an eyebrow, noticing someone in the group was missing. "Where's Hirano?"

"Wait, we thought he was with you," Rei said, suddenly looking very worried.

"No, he was supposed to be with you." James frowned, "Damn it, Hirano!" He turned to Takashi, "Find him, quickly! He must have gotten lost in the mines."

The group was suddenly interrupted by a large roar. Watching as Tar atop his Megalosaurus stomped through a wall of black smoke. While waving away the noxious smoke from his face, the traitor blinked his eyes to see James and the others just feet away from him.

"You!" he cried shrilly. "I'll have your fucking head for this!" He jerked his Megalosaurus forward.

"Go!" James yelled at the others, glaring up at the incoming theropod.

"What about you?" Takashi asked quickly, glancing from James to the approaching Megalosaurus worriedly.

"I'll deal with, Tar! Find Hirano! There's a couple flyers trapped in a pit not too far from here! Help it out and feed it some meat! It ought to come with you willingly!" James drew his weapon, facing the incoming traitor with his titanic beast.

"But, James-" Rei began.

"You heard him, girl, move!" Showk insisted.

Throwing one more anxious glance at James and the charging Megalosaurus, she turned and followed Takashi and Saeko. Once they had left the smoldering clearing, Showk turned to regard James with a serious expression.

"Show him no mercy," he muttered quietly, fixating his gaze on James back.

"Sir, we have to go!" Said the man to his left, supporting his left arm.

"Aye," Showk nodded. Glancing over at James once more before limping away with the help of his men.

XXX

The stampeding Megalosaurus was quickly closing in on James. Its roared viciously, opening its jaws wide to snap him up during its stride. Reacting at the last second, James dived out of the way. Narrowly dodging the creature's voracious jaws as they bit down on the air with a booming crunch.

"Damn, beast!" Tar swore. Bring the creature to a halt. While Tar was busy trying to turn his beast around, James whistled sharply. Emerald ran up her alpha's side, snarling at the towering megalosaur as it turned to face them. James climbed on her back, glaring up at Tar as he looked down at them with an arrogant sneer "Ha! You plan to fight me? With that little iguana!" He crowed. Emerald gave a throaty growl, finding the traitors insults rather distasteful. James didn't say anything. He continued to glare at Tar before lightly tapping his heels in Emeralds sides, making her step forward.

Tar raised an eyebrow, intrigued, "You're a persistent one, aren't you?" His face darkened maliciously. "It ends here, boy. I don't care if that big bastard Ajax or even Leonidas himself gets displeased with me ending you. I will kill you for this!"

"Bring it!" James snarled. Emerald roared, prompting the megalosaurus to do the same. James leaned forward and commanded Emerald to run. They dashed towards the megalosaurus. The beast roared and aimed to snap both Emerald and James up within its jaws but Emerald was more agile than the much larger beast. Dodging sideways out of reach from the creature's jaws; Emerald latched on to the side of the beast's massive skull, driving her claws into the creature's skull.

The megalosaurus roared in pain, shaking its head in an attempt to throw Emerald off. This only encouraged the female raptor to sink her claws deeper and shred them down the side of the creature's face. Prompting the beast to shake its head harder. It snapped its jaws in an attempt to seize the raptor and rider and kill them both.

Holding onto Emeralds neck for dear life, James looked up at Tar, who was shaking with rage at the sight of his beast being maimed by a smaller creature, and leaned his body towards him, angling his jump carefully. Once the megalosaurus jerked its head upwards to throw Emerald off, James leaped off Emeralds back and ran down the creature's thrashing muscular neck, tackling a dumbfounded Tar out of his saddle.

They both tumbled down the creature's flanks. Twisting in midair, James made sure Tar was the one to hit the ground first, knocking the wind out of the older man. James hooked his fingers beneath the traitor's chitin breastplate and heaved him to his feet before delivering a left hook to Tar's unprotected side which was covered by a light fabric rather than chitin.

Tar yelped from the force of the strike. Seething with rage, he drew his knife and slashed at James. James ducked under Tar's obvious strike. Throwing a one-two to Tar's unarmored side he knocked the wind out of the traitor and putting him off balance. Delivering a flurry of jabs and strikes to Tar's unprotected face, James performed a cross to the back of Tar's head, making him hunch forward. Upper-cutting him in the jaw, James made him shakily stand once more before finishing him off with a running sucker punch, knocking Tar to the ground.

Breathing heavily, James stared down at Tar's beaten form, void of all emotion. The wounded traitor groaned feebly. Bringing a hand up to touch his bloodied face, he pulled it back to see a large glob of blood in the center of his palm.

"You... hit me," Tar said, dumbly. He looked almost shocked to have been beaten so savagely. James snorted. Tar wasn't used to losing. "You won't have to worry about that anymore," James said darkly. Slowly drawing his hammer.

Tar frowned questioningly. But slowly widened his eyes in horrid realization as James drew his hammer.

"W-Wait-" Tar stammered, crawling backwards.

"I don't think so," James said coolly, walking towards him slowly.

"Please! I-I-I can give you weapons! Armor! I can help you kill Leonidas!" Tar pleaded, scrambling backwards.

"No thanks..." James murmured, raising his hammer. "Besides, I don't accept offers from traitors. Or cowards."

Tar continued to crawl backwards, quickly turning to get to his feet only to feel the end of James hammer slam down on his back. He heard his own spin break from the force of the blow. "Gaaaaaah!" Tar screamed. Tears of pain streaming from his eyes. "Please, mercy!" He was forcefully turned onto his back. He gagged as a hand closed around his throat in an iron strength grip. Slowly, James lifted Tar off his back to bring his face up to his.

"Someone... requested," He paused, his eyes glaring into Tars fearfully dark eyes. "To show you no mercy." He had heard Showk's request.

Tar's eyes grew wider. "No, please!"

James released Tar's throat, letting his back hit the ground.

"No!" Tar screamed. "Plea-!"

James brought his hammer down, preventing Tar from uttering his pleas any longer.

"No mercy this time," James muttered, staring down at Tar's lifeless form. With no pity or remorse in his eyes. He had betrayed his own tribe. That was no better than betraying your commanding officer in the military. Or your own family! He had gotten good men killed. Innocent women and children as well. James snorted. He had expected mercy out of his punishment. Mercy that was sadly nothing for James to give.

A massive roar brought James back to reality as the megalosaurus crashed through a fiery building with Emerald still latched onto the side of its neck. The beast's whole head was covered in bloody claw marks. Emerald had been trying her best to keep it distracted while James dealt with its rider but she too wore wounds from the prolonged battle.

Removing herself from the creature's neck, Emerald landed atop a burnt building and snarled at the wounded titan. The megalosaurus bellowed angrily, lunging forward to snap the female raptor off her perch. Jumping upwards, Emerald landed atop the beast's snout, biting and raking her claws across the creature's nose. The megalosaurus roared in pain once more, stomping backwards while thrashing its head to throw Emerald off. However, unlike before, Emerald didn't have a good enough grip on the creature's narrowed snout and struggled to hold on.

"Emerald, hang on!" James yelled. Watching in horror as the megalosaurus gave one last mighty thrash, sending the female raptor sailing across the clearing and into a scorched stable area.

James grimaced at the force of Emeralds landing. He watched as his beta fought to get to her feet within the smoldering rubble covered in cuts and scrapes that littered her beautiful green hide. Falling back to the ground, Emerald looked up fearfully as the megalosaurus stomped towards her. Its unholy red eyes danced with glee and triumph as it began to close in on the little raptor that had wounded it so badly.

Expecting the end to come, Emerald bared her fangs. If she was going down, she was going down biting!

Suddenly, James leaped into the air over its head, having climbed up the burnt wall and jumped off the building alongside it, slamming his stone knife into the megalosaur's eye. The titanic beast unleashed an ear ringing scream, thrashing its head wildly with James hanging on for dear life. In its wild attempt to shake James off, the megalosaurus slammed the other side of its head into the scorched wall of the camp and brought the weakened wall crumbling down. Embers and flaming chunks of wood rained around them and sparks flew through the air. Through the glare, James could see the uncharred swamp where the wall once stood; a prime chance of an escape.

However, James was quickly brought back to reality by a sickening snap and the feeling of his knife's handle snapping in twain.

"Shit!" James cursed.

The megalosaurus swung its head again, this time succeeding in sending James flying. His field of vision twisted and turned as he cartwheeled through the air and hit the ground with a harsh thud that made his brain rattle and his vision turn white for a second. He continued to skid through the dirt feeling each and every stray rock and pebble peel away at skin in the process.

Finally, he stopped sliding. James groaned. He tried to move, gasping as white fire shot through his body; he must have broken something. The slightest movement took his breath away and white spots danced before his eyes. "Fuck!" James gasped again. Attempting to at least get on his knees, he managed to do so, but not before noticing the megalosaurus give way to a berserker rage due to the loss of its eye. Turning its one good eye to regard James with pure hatred, the beast roared in fury.

James gritted his teeth and tried to stand and nearly found himself back on his stomach. Shit, he could hardly stand let alone dodge another attack. A comforting presence found its way at his side. Looking up, he smiled to see Emerald. His beta trilled quietly, lowering her head, offering to help him up. James gave a small smile. Bringing his arm around her muscular neck, he rose to his feet with her support. While doing this, the two of them never broke eye contact. His human gray eyes reflecting of with her blue reptilian.

She had saved his life back at his former home when she killed the raider's sabretooth. Tonight he'd saved hers. Any shred of distrust that the two of them might have still held on to was all but gone.

"Thank you," James whispered, closing his eyes and pressing his forehead against her snout. Emerald growled softly and leaned into the contact, closing her eyes as well. Her smooth polished scales brushed against his sweaty bangs. His beta drew a long breath, breathing in her alpha's scent. James brought his other hand up, caressing Emeralds bottom jaw.

They were reconciling with one another; for James's lack of trust to fight by his beta's side and for Emerald lack of faith in her alpha.

However, their moment was quickly interrupted by a massive roar. The megalosaurus stomped forward, slowly closing the distance between it and James and Emerald. Emerald snarled, moving to place her front between herself between her alpha and the megalosaurus. James clenched his teeth. The two of them were badly hurt and he could hardly stand let alone perform another stunt like before.

For once in his life, he didn't know what to do.

As the towering beast gave a menacing hiss, preparing to charge forward, a gunshot split the air and a bullet struck the carnivore's flank.

The megalosaurus, snarling in pain, turned to see the cause of such an annoyance. James' eyes widened in shock and astonishment. Hirano smiled maniacally while firing a rifle from atop a rather small, dark green trike. Pulling the lever back, he reloaded and fired again, this time striking it in the soft part of its throat. It let out a gargling roared, shaking its head in a vain attempt to relieve itself of the pain within its throat that the bullet obviously caused. James couldn't help but chuckled while watching Hirano continue to pepper the large carnivore with a barrage of bullets using the spiked grooves of the trikes frill to help balance his weapon as the trike pawed the ground and tensed in preparation to charge. Lowering its head, the creature took aim with its three horns and charged. As it closed in on the megalosaurus, the trike reared up on its hind legs, and Using its weight and momentum, it drove its horns straight through the megalosaurus' calf and completely severing its hamstring.

Roaring in agony, the megalosaurus toppled over onto its side. The creature lay still for a moment before lifting its head and gave a small cry of pain before Letting its head fall back to the ground. It just laid there, slowly dying from its wounds.

James' eyes softened. It wasn't the beasts fault for following its master's orders. It didn't deserve to die slowly for being loyal. Even if it was being loyal to the wrong person.

Having felt some of his strength return to his legs, he slowly limped over to the fallen creature. Emerald followed close behind him, hesitant to leave her alpha's side as he approached the fallen carnivore.

"Stay, Emerald," James commanded, softly.

Pausing in her tracks, his beta regarded him with a questioning stare but reluctantly, she complied.

"Hirano," James started, surprising the otaku as he stepped past him and his new trike. "You still have that pistol Showk gave you?"

"Y-Yea," Hirano answered, hesitantly.

"Can I borrow it, please."

Hirano stared at him for a quiet moment before looking over at the wounded megalosaurus, then back at James, nodding in understanding. Pulling the long barreled pistol from his back pocket, he handed it to James with a somber expression. James smiled and took the weapon. "You did good, Hirano."

Hirano gave a small smile, nodding his thanks to the castaway's praise. However, he looked on in sadness as James limped over to the megalosaurus' head. It gave another pitiful cry as James sat down on his knees. Lifting the megalosaurus' head and allowing it to rest softly in his lap.

"Shh, it's alright, there, big girl," James cooed, lightly petting its scales. The megalosaurus whined again, opening its one remaining red eye to look at him. The pain it felt showed in its gaze, a pain so horrible, it looked to him to relieve it. It pressed its head against his thighs, whining louder, begging him to help the pain go away.

"It's okay," James choked, sympathizing with the poor creature. "It's okay."

Hirano looked on at the scene with sadness and brought a hand up and petted his trike on the head. The trike paid no mind to the fallen carnivore and focused on Hirano's petting.

Emerald, however, lowered her gaze and closed her eyes. She knew what her alpha was going to do; he was going to relieve it of its pain.

"It's okay," James repeated, pulling the hammer back on the gun "It's okay."

He petted the creature beneath its eyelid, watching as it slowly closed his eyes and, for once in its life, it seemed to enjoy a show of affection. In this brief moment of happiness, James pulled the trigger.

The megalosaur didn't open its eye again.

XXXX

Alright, I'm back as you all know. Yes, it's been a long time. BUT, I have my reasons. Aside from college, work and bodybuilding my roommate, who lifts weights as well, dropped a barbell on my laptop. Destroying it and whatever progress I had on this and other stories.

Also, I have two announcements. bob the kraken has gladly taken up the role as my second beta reader for ark. With him and Draco the chapters of every ark story will be at their utmost best!

And finally, I am ready to unveil mine and bob's latest work. We both have been working on my second fanfiction story titled Silver Dawn; An Until Dawn fanfiction that the two of us have worked on for some time! Be warned, due to life and other issues it's not as done as you might think; It is still a working progress. Know that me and bob have worked very hard on this story's lore and we know you will enjoy it.

Stay tuned folks, it's just getting started!


	13. Chapter 12

Welcome back to another chapter! I just wanted to thank all of you for the views, the follows and favorites as well as the positive reviews. Your support is much appreciated and very motivating.

Enjoy :)

Special Thanks to Draco38 and Bob the Kraken

I do not own HOTD or Ark

 **XXX**

Chapter 12: The Journey Continues

It had been four weeks since the group laid siege on the Southern Raider encampment. Sitting atop a moss-covered rock formation overlooking the sea of mangrove trees and murky bog water, James let out a long, tired breath. Leaning back, he rested against Emerald who lay napping behind him and focused on the rhythmic rise and fall of her scales. His beta lifted her head to give him a questioning look as he sighed wearily.

"Looks like we're ready, then," James murmured softly.

Bringing a hand up, he gingerly prodded at his ribcage. During his battle with Tar's Megalosaurus, he had fractured three of his ribs along with the usual nasty cuts and bruises and mild burns one would acquire after a fight with a dinosaur on a flaming battlefield. If it wasn't for Hirano, he would have probably have gained a whole lot more. James smiled, remembering how the otaku had fearlessly charged into battle atop his new trike, which he had affectionately named Chi-Ha; the name of a tank model from WWII. Apparently, Hirano had also acquired a new firearm as well as a new friend while being lost in the mines, something he was positively ecstatic about.

When they had made it back to the village, they were instantly greeted by their worried companions. Rei and Saeko had to help James off Emerald because his injuries prevented him from even dismounting properly. Hell, the pain had been so intense he'd nearly passed out once the rush of battle had worn off. But, thanks to the medical care of Miss Shizuka and the village's herbalist, he had made a full recovery.

However, time was short, and now he and the others had to continue their quest.

"Alright," James said, patting Emerald on the side. "On your feet, girl. Time to head out." His beta growled in discontent but complied. Rising to her feet, she allowed James to climb onto her back and make their way back to the village.

XXX

Upon arrival, James was greeted by his faithful companion, Spit, who was waiting for him in the middle of the village entrance. James smiled as the little dilo trilled happily at the sight of his master, jumping up at his leg draping down Emerald's side. The female raptor threw an annoyed snarl at the small dilophosaurus, who paid no mind to Emerald's grumpy nature and continued to bounce around her. Bringing Emerald to a stop, James slid off her to greet the excited Spit.

"Easy there, boy, easy!" James laughed as Spit warbled happily and butted his crest into James's still sore chest. Although the pain still lingered, it was, for the most part, manageable. Hearing footsteps, James looked up to see Takashi and the others walking towards him with packs and satchels filled to the brim slung over their shoulders.

"Looks like we're well prepared now," James pointed out, raising an eyebrow at Takashi's bag which looked as if it was about to burst at the seams with the sheer amount of supplies.

Hirano, who sat atop Chi-Ha, grinned and gave him a thumbs-up. James had to admit it was very kind of the Swamp Lotus tribe to spend their time and resources crafting a special saddle for Chi-Ha. It even had a gun holster, as well as more seating for extra passengers. James watched as Takagi, Shizuka and Rei climbed aboard the massive trike. Shizuka and Rei seated themselves comfortably in the two side passenger seats while Takagi sat directly behind Hirano.

Hirano blushed at Takagi's decision to sit behind him. "T-Takagi-chan, there's a seat behind me for you if-"

"Are you implying I shouldn't sit here?!" the pink-haired girl spat, instantly taking Hirano's flustered nature as trying to tell her to sit elsewhere.

"No, no that's not-!" Hirano's attempt to defend himself was suddenly cut off as Chi-Ha, taking Takagi's gesture at raising her voice to her master rather personally.

The trike snorted and bucked forward, causing Takagi to plow into Hirano's back and her arms to instinctively wrap around his waist. Hirano's face lit up bright red as well as gaining a goofy expression. Takagi, suddenly realizing what she was doing, paled and immediately shoved herself off the otaku.

"Don't get any ideas, fatty!" She snarled.

"Geez, it's like watching a soap opera…" James muttered as the bickering continued. Both Emerald and Spit seemed to hiss in agreement.

"When it comes to those two, that's a mild conversation," Takashi commented as he walked up to him.

James chuckled "I'll bet." They shared a laugh.

"So, where to next?" Asked Saeko. The swordswoman came to a stop next to Takashi and leaned against his shoulder, something that made the other teen blush.

James chuckled at the pink in Takashi's cheeks and asked, "You got the map?" She did and handed him the rolled-up slip of parchment. James unfurled it with a thank-you and scanned the details before he crouched down and place it on the ground so the others could see "Okay, well, we started from around Drayo's Cove. That's right here." He pointed to a spot of green land jutting off the southern coast of the island "And right now, we're in the heart of the Writing Swamps. The Broken Toe tribe is north by Whitesky Peak." James traced his finger from a stretch of gray to a patch of white up in the upper left corner of the map "We can make our way up the Eastern Plains and across Smuggler's Pass to get there. Or just cut through the Redwood Forest." James frowned and scratched at his chin.

"How long is that from here?" Takashi asked.

James smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck "A couple months of travel, depending on what path we take…"

"A couple months!?"

"Look, it's the only way!" James defended against Takashi's wide eyes and Saeko's raised eyebrow "I know it sucks, trust me, I do! But believe me that it is _much_ better with the Toes than being out there with Leonidas and his men stalking about. Those bastards are ruthless cutthroats that take no prisoners! I've seen good people get cut down by them. Good, innocent people." He shuddered and shook his head, saying "The Southern Raiders take what they want, when they want, and it doesn't matter the way they do it. And with you all being fresh to the island? There's a very slim chance you'd all make it for very long on your own."

"We're stronger than we look," Saeko told him through narrowed eyes.

James raised his hand "I know that. What I'm saying is that you don't know how things work here. You don't know what's deadly and what's friendly, or what to eat. Not to mention you don't know how to build or craft the right materials for yourselves." He said and addressed the boy next to him "Takashi, picture our roles reversed; I'm a castaway from an island of dinosaurs dropped into a world of undead zombies and god knows what else with nothing but my bare hands. How long would I last on my own?"

Takashi winced, "Not long."

"But, if I found you guys," James gestured at the others behind them. Takagi and Khota were still bickering while Rei and Miss Shizuka were trying to calm them down "Then, I'd have to follow your lead and learn what to do. Please, Takashi, trust me on this," James pleaded with him.

Takashi shared a glance with Saeko. The two survivors shared an internal conversation, before they nodded, and looked back at James.

"I don't like it, but you're right." Takashi accepted.

"The rest of the group should know the conditions if you're to be our guide," Saeko commented.

James nodded "Absolutely." He agreed and looked up with an amused grimace "Come on, let's tell em' now before Takagi rips Kota's head off."

After they literally pried Takagi off Hirano's head, the group of survivors had a sit-down with the castaway and discussed their options. None were happy about the estimated time, but by the end of it and with some reassurances from James, they all agreed to still go to the Broken Toes. Ultimately, they went with the safest route; the Eastern Plains. The Redwood Forest might have been a shortcut, but it was dangerous territory. Finally, they went to collect Alice. The little girl had been kept under watch by some of Showk's handmaidens, while she was keeping watch over Zeke who in turn was keeping watch over the dodo-bird Kenny who was watching a berry…

Gotta love that dodo intelligence…

But just as they were about to be seen off by the Swamp Lotus Tribe, James was approached by Showk.

The large man approached him with a smile as he bowed his head "No thanks can express our tribe's gratitude. If not for you, Tar would have never been found out as a traitor, nor would we be here today."

"I couldn't just stand by and do nothing." James told him before his eyes narrowed and he frowned "The Southern Raiders are a _pestilence_ …believe me, I know all too well."

Showk sighed "I know you do." He said, "One such as yourself is too young to have experienced such trials, even by this island's standards..."

"I don't dwell on it. I just keep moving forward." James smiled back at him "That's all you can do."

Showk stared at the young castaway in silence, looking from him to his band of friends as they conversed with one another. He said "They are lucky to have you. To have someone willing to teach them the ways of Ark." James raised a questioning eyebrow as the man continued "I remember when I first showed up here. Lost and alone without a stitch of clothing on my back, cowering at the mere sight of a damned Dodo…"

James eyes widened in shock "Y-You were stranded here too?"

Showk closed his eyes, hiding a small smile at the young man's surprise "Well," he went on, ignoring James initial question "Your new armor and weapons are in your packs, as well as plenty of my tribes famous cooked Sarco meat and some Mejo Juice for the road ahead." He turned, walking into the crowd of villagers, and paused to give James a sideways glance before he disappeared. "Good luck on your quest, Rosutofaitā."

James gaped at the retreating man's form.

He hadn't heard that name in a long time. A very, long time…

"Wait, what did he just call you?" Takashi asked, suddenly right beside him.

James started, "Nothing!" he said quickly, turning away from the Swamp Lotus Tribe as they waved farewell.

Hopping atop Emerald's back, which now adorned her own saddle, again thanks to the efforts of the Swamp Lotus Tribe, James helped Alice aboard. Kenny was clutched in her arms while Zeke was secured away within Miss Shizuka's…bosom. Spit was content to trot after the group. Takashi and Saeko decided to walk as well.

"Bye, thanks for everything!" Alice called back, waving back at the tribe. Glancing over his shoulder, James watched as they all continued to wave, calling and hollering at them as they began to exit the village. Catching sight of Showk standing at the door of the longhouse, James frowned.

 _How the hell did he know?_ James muttered mentally.

No one knew of that name.

No one except…

James was immediately snapped out of thought by Rei's voice "You ok, James?" She asked.

"Y-Yea, I'm ok."

"You look like you just saw a ghost." Takagi quirked.

James pressed his lips together, jeering Emerald forward "Just something I'd like to forget..."

Everyone stared at him questioningly but didn't press the conversation. The entrance of the village soon disappeared behind them amongst the twists and turns of the winding pathway as the group headed towards the outermost part of the Writhing Swamp.

Looking up, Takashi squinted against the sunshine seeping through the canopy of swamp trees "Wow, this is a pretty nice day to travel."

Yeah, not too hot, not too cold." Saeko nodded in agreement. Closing her eyes as she felt the warm sunlight hit her skin "Just right."

XXX

Lightning struck overhead as the blackened sky continued to pour heavy droplets of rain down upon the group.

"Takashi…" Rei growled.

"Don't say it." The young man warned.

"Say what? That you jinxed it!?"

"S-shut up!"

"Don't tell me to shut up!"

The group of zombie-slaying survivors were all huddled underneath the leaves of a massive tree in a futile attempt to escape the downpour. It was a rather cramped affair, what with being clumped next to Chi-Ha and Spit. Their castaway guide was scouting out the area up ahead on Emerald. The two other dinos were set behind as guards against any hungry predators that would want to make a snack out of them. Safety in numbers and what not…

XXX

"Come on, Emerald," James grunted, clinging onto Emeralds saddle horn as the raptor fought to heave herself up the steep rock face. James could hear the roar of the rushing waterfall at his side as the water cascaded into the swamp below. The wind howled in his ears and the trees thrashed violently as he and Emerald continued their perilously climb. Upon reaching the top, he could see their destination ahead; the Plains. Or, what he could see through all the heavy beating rain. Lightning cracked and thunder boomed overhead, deafening him for a moment as well as startling Emerald.

"Easy girl, easy," he said, soothingly. Petting her neck as the raptor tossed her head back, glancing up at the darkened sky fearfully.

Once his beta had been reassured, he gazed out across the plains once more. A temporary river having been formed due to the excess water from the rains and led to the waterfall at his side. The river itself looked far too deep and the current also looked too strong to cross. They'd be asking to be swept away and plummet back into the swamplands below. However, just a few yards ahead through sopping wet long grass, James saw a lone dead tree across either side of the bank. A natural bridge. The tree was thick enough to support Chi-Ha's weight. Hopefully. _"Shit"_ James hissed mentally. If they didn't cross now, the rains would continue to flood the area and eventually sweep everyone away. They were in the lower lands of the swamp, prime flood territory, so they had to move swiftly.

"Come on, girl." James tugged on Emeralds reins. Turning the raptor around they descended back down the rocky path and returned to the groups hiding place not far back.

"Anything?" Takashi hollered over the clap of thunder.

"There's a path leading up the bowl!" James said, raising his voice as well. He pointed to the rise of the rock wall through the thrashing trees "But we need to hurry! This storm will make it impossible to get across! If we don't hurry, this place is going to be flooded by nightfall!"

"Well what the hell are we doing standing around?! Let's go!" Takagi snapped.

At that exact moment, Zeke let out a series of barks and pointed his nose at the crest of the swamps Bowl. A stream of muddy water was beginning to trail down the pathway and was gaining in speed and volume.

"Flash flood!" James warned "Everyone, get on Chi-Ha! The river must have overflowed; we've got to move, now!"

Without hesitation, everyone clambered onto the trike. Even Spit clambered up the dinosaur's tail to come to a rest on her hindquarters. While the custom saddle could hold a max of four people, plus the rider, without hindering the animal, the rising water proved to change such circumstances. Chi-Ha was beginning to show strain; sluggish movement and heavy breathing. While she was a big animal, she was still a young trike and lacked in terms of carry weight she would have in adulthood. James knew it was stressful on the beast to be in such a storm _and_ be carrying more than she can handle. However, the rushing waters beginning to claim the ground below them, strong enough to sweep a human off their feet, weren't enough to claim her in its wake.

"You're doing great, girl," Kohta said to his mount encouragingly, rubbing at the trike's spiked crest "Just a little further!"

Chi-Ha panted heavily, sloshing through the rushing muddy waters. She plowed through, plants, sticks, branches, and other debris as they came roaring towards her like a bulldozer. Emerald and James made sure to stick to Chi-Ha's flank, allowing the trike to take most of the blunt force from the waters as they neared the edge of the bowl. Hell, Emerald was having a hard time staying balanced even with Chi-Ha serving as a shield. With raptors being lightweight, she was in greater danger of being swept away by the rushing, thigh-high water. James and Alice helped weigh her down, though.

Upon finally reaching the lip of the bowl, everyone except Hirano dismounted from Chi-Ha to give the trike some relief, having found solid ground that was not entirely covered in water.

"Alright, come on." James motioned up the path as Emerald leaped out of the water, landing on a large stone. Shaking her head, she whipped off some of the water from her feathers with a growl of annoyance, then moved speedily up to join the others.

"Shit, James, is Chi-Ha will be able to make that?" Saeko commented, taking in the fallen tree.

"She's gonna have too." James told her "This river runs up a cliffside, so going around it is out of the question. That water is gonna be too strong and too deep for her to swim across, and I don't want to risk any of us swimming for it."

Takashi glanced up at Khota and said, "Hirano, try to cross on Chi-Ha. Just see if it's stable."

Khota wiped some of the rain from his glasses and nodded before steering Chi-Ha in the direction of the tree. Everyone watched in trepidation as the large animal clambered onto the half of the fallen tree, taking a moment to steady herself before Khota coaxed her to walk forward slowly. Halfway across the bridge, the trike's foot slipped and she lost her balance for a brief moment before she steadied herself with a low whine of fear.

"It's okay, Chi-Ha." Khota told her, gently rubbing at her crest "It's going to be alright, we're almost there."

Slowly, but surely, Chi-Ha plodded her way across to the other side safely and soundly and dropped herself off onto the opposite bank. Khota waved and called for the others to come across, and Takashi took the reins from there. He had everyone line up and walk across, one after the other. It took a while, but eventually everyone came to join Khota and Chi-Ha. Then James sent Emerald across with Alice and Kenny on her back, having volunteered to go last with Spit. The raptor's claws should give her a good grip and she was steady enough on her feet to be with the group's youngest. The weather was beginning to clear up as well, so James took that as a good sign.

"You'll be fine, Alice! Just hang on tight." He called out to her as Emerald stalked forward along the wet wood.

"But what about Kenny?" Alice called back, her grip wrapped around her dodo's fat form.

"Fuck that bird." He mumbled. Spit warbled in agreement.

"What?"

"I said he'll be fine, just hold onto Emerald!"

Sure enough, Emerald brought Alice and Kenny to where the others stood waiting. Now, it was James's turn. Glancing down at Spit, James said to the dilo "You ready, bud?" and rubbed the dilo's frill affectionately. Spit trilled happily, leaning into his touch before James led him forward onto the log.

Of course, it was then, that disaster struck.

A dark shape underwater that had been floating towards James and Spit exploded upward in a shower of dirty water and green scales and slammed its bulk down on the tree where James and Spit were about to walk. A Sarcosuchus had been lying in wait under their bridge, patiently waiting for the right moment to strike, and smashed a chunk out of the bridge before the current swept it away, leaving James and Spit standing there, staring at a large gap in their only way across.

"I'm fine, guys!" James called over to assuage their anxious cries and cursed under his breath. He could jump the gap on his own, but Spit wasn't really built for jumping and if he tried to swim, he'd be taken by the current before he'd make it across. And now there was a Sarco in the water, James didn't want to risk wasting time.

There was only one thing he could do…

Bracing himself, James broke into a dead sprint while carrying Spit under his left arm. Placing his momentum and strength into his legs, he leaped out across the roaring murky water. His body slammed into the base of the tree and he sunk up to his chest, legs kicking to stay afloat, and he wrapped his free arm around a low hanging branch. He paused to adjust his grip on Spit as the little dilo hissed anxiously at the rushing water around him, tail and limbs moving to help keep his head above water. The water was as deep as James thought it was and he couldn't feel the bottom. Neither felt particularly up to a swimming against such a strong current moment. As James tried to pull himself up, the branch suddenly gave a spine-chilling snap and he slumped down a few inches into the water.

"James!" Rei screamed, her eyes wide with horror as the branch James hung onto by was half-broken off from the trunk of the tree.

James ground his teeth together, fighting to heave himself onto the branch which gave another sickening creak. The others were screaming at the top of their lungs for him to hurry. Emerald roared in dismay and desperately looked for a way to reach her alpha.

"Oh, no..." Alice whispered. Looking down, she came to find that Kenny was no longer by her side "Kenny-chan?" She asked aloud, looking around for the green dodo. However, her eyes wandered back to James and widened in shock.

James could feel the branch about to give way, and he struggled to keep a tight grip on Spit. Then, he heard a familiar honk above him. Looking up, he saw _Kenny_ cock his head down at him.

"Kenny..." James said slowly, "Stay."

Kenny chirped, looking down at the branch as it gave an ominous creak. Somehow, and James did not know how, this flightless and unagile bird had got itself _across_ the bridge, _up_ and _onto_ the branch James was hanging onto dear life for _without anyone noticing._

The young castaway went pale as the Dodo suddenly honked and hopped off the top branch, landing right on his shoulder.

"God-" His branch gave way from the added weight with a loud snap "-DAMNIT KENNYYYYYYYY!" His scream became mixed in with the roaring water along with Kenny's prolonged honk of terror and Spit's fearful shrieks.

James was sent tumbling through the water. The force of the current sent him twisting under the rapids. Keeping a firm hold on Spit, James kicked upward and breached the surface. He gasped for air as he was pulled along by the white-water.

"Guys!" James yelled and coughed as water sloshed up into his mouth.

He could hear their distant yells, but the current dragged him off and he was yanked away from the Plain's borders and back into the maze of the swamp's roaring river. Hearing frantic splashing behind him, James turned to see Kenny struggling to stay surfaced. The dodo gave a terrified honk before disappearing under again.

"God damn it, Kenny!" James growled and reached into the water to bring the dodo back to the surface. Kenny coughed and sneezed before staring at him blankly and honking stupidly. James snarled and brought the dodo closer to his face to glare into his amber eyes.

"I have half a mind to drop you back in the water!" He yelled. Kenny just chirped.

"Graaahhh!" James raged. Spit suddenly let out a shrill cry of warning. Looking forward, James gasped in horror to see that they about to tip over the edge of the waterfall. James shut his eyes and yelled out "Oh son of a-"

And they went over

"-BIIIIIIITTTCCHHH!"

For a moment, all James felt the rush of wind and water stinging his face as he, Spit, and Kenny flipped ass over face through the air. Then, James's face was promptly reintroduced to the water at max speed and for a moment, he blacked out. The current sucked at him, pulling him, Spit, and Kenny to the bottom of the riverbed. A dark hole opened up in the rocky soil, sucking the water into it, and the three beings were dragged into it.

James woke up to falling again before he once again splashed down. Gasping and thrashing to the surface yet again, James spluttered and whipped his head around to see where he was now, and discovered he was in almost complete darkness. The only light came from the flickering hole in the ceiling where a stream of water flowed through and into this…underground pool. Treading water, James twisted about and let out a relieved sigh to see the outline of Spit paddling towards him. That relief quickly turned to murderous rage when he heard a familiar honk come from atop the dilo's back.

"Spit." James seethed as his faithful companion swam up to him "Remind me to tell Alice that Kenny got eaten by a Megapiranha or something when we get out of here, because the first chance I get, I'm gonna break that damn bird's neck!" Spit hissed in agreement.

Something brushed against James's leg.

James lashed out with a kick, something along the lines of "OHFUCKNO!" spilling from his lips before he started thrashing for the shore, Spit trailing behind him. One adrenaline fueled swim later, James was hauling both himself and his Dilophosaur onto the cool stone, and pulling them as far away from the water as possible before collapsing against a rocky wall, panting furiously. Spit dropped onto his belly next to him, his breath matching his master's. The only one that wasn't gasping for air was Kenny. The dodo waddled up to the exhausted two and pecked at the ground.

James stared at the green menace and aimed his middle finger at him, saying "Fuck you." He turned his finger out towards the pool "And fuck the water!" He exhaled and let his head rest against the stone wall, staring up at the blackness of what had to be an underground cave.

"At least we're still alive, eh, Spit?" He asked his pet James placed his hand on Spit's back and rubbed down his quills. Spit hissed weakly and nudged James's leg. "Just like old times, right buddy?"

From the darkness came the echoing of hungry insectoid screeching.

James cursed.

"… _Fuck."_

 _AU: Ok. It's been a while. BUT! I am back. Just wanted to note that as you read this chapter, know that another one is already finished and the next chapter is in the works. Also, a special thanks to everyone for your support to this, not even partially finished, story. Just know that a lot of awesome stuff is planned ahead and I hope you'll be along for the ride._

 _And a very special thanks to BobtheKraken for getting me off my dead ass and continuing this._

 _Also, I'm going to Alaska for a week but will write while on vacation!_


	14. Chapter 13

_Welcome Back to another chapter. Hope you enjoy._

 _Special thanks to bob the kraken and Draco38 as my beta readers_

Chapter 13: Trapped

"Fuck." James hissed again as he listened to the screeches and chittering growing louder and louder. Spit was immediately on his feet, looking around frantically as the noises continued. The little Dilo did not hiss or growl, instead, he backed towards James and remained low by his side.

James grimaced. He knew exactly what was making those noises, and it wasn't friendly; far from it. Hearing the sudden pitter-patter of many legs, he whirled around. His eyes narrowed at a fast moving shadow that dashed just over the border of dim light seeping through the dripping hole in the ceiling. James slowly reached for Kenny, who was fixated on a small rock, and gently seized the dodo by the neck while keeping his gaze trained on the shadows and his ears alert for any further sounds. However, said sounds had stopped, the only noise being the rhythmic _plip-plop_ of water dribbling down from above.

The storm seemed to have ceased, but heavy winds and thunder continued to play outside as James unbuttoned his pack, cringing against the impossibly loud _pop_ from each button undone. The silence was so heavy that even opening his pack was like shooting off a gun. Kenny, cocking his head, glanced up at James questioningly. The young castaway did not remove his gaze from the shadows. Frowning, he slowly opened the pack and removed the only weapon he had on him, his stone hammer, and placed Kenny inside.

They were definitely not alone in here.

Sliding the pack back over his shoulders, he readied his hammer and extending his other hand, signaled for Spit to follow. The Dilophosaur did not trill in acknowledgment or bob his head. Instead, he kept his gaze fixated in the direction his master was faced and kept quiet. Slowly, they both backed away from the wall and began to feel their way along the stone. Glancing around, James looked for another way out. Thanks to the shadows and dim lighting, he couldn't estimate a proper escape route.

As James was about to take another step, an almost inaudible sound made him freeze. His ears picked up the low series of many steps stalking directly above him.

Jerking his head to the ceiling, James was met with the unholy sight of an eight-legged, monstrosity descending upon him. Thrusting his hammer up, the creature's girth met the head of his hammer, and he used the insect's momentum to throw it aside. The arachnid bounced across the ground, screeching and hissing as it regained its footing and fixated many hungry, red eyes on James.

Fun fact; this was no ordinary spider. This thing was known as an Araneomorphus, or Araneo for short; an Arachniphobic's worst nightmare. The hellish arachnid was a chimera of various spider species with a wide range of abilities. It had a toxic, paralytic bite; it could spit streams of its venom, fire globs of sticky webbing from holes along its abdomen, and could see in the dark by sensing vibrations. Not to mention it was bigger than an adult human.

James had never seen one alive before and was quickly beginning to wish it would have stayed that way.

Positioning himself between the threat and his master, Spit screeched at the large arachnid. Unfurling his frill, he hacked a glob of venom into the spider's face, blinding the vicious beast. The spider screeched in pain as the venom burned at its many eyes and it thrashed around wildly, clawing at its face with its sharp legs. Taking the opportunity, James lunged forward and brought his hammer down on the beasts head, smashing it like a melon and splattering green ichor across his weathered, leather armor.

On the plus side, their exoskeleton was almost fleshy in some places that offered weak physical resistance; mainly the head. Stepping away from the fallen creature, James prepared himself once more as more screeches spilled through the cave.

Araneomorphus did not come alone. Like ants, they attacked in hordes. Dashing to Spit, James seized his faithful companion and yanked him out of the way of an Araneo that came pattering towards them from the dark. Several of the arachnids rushed out of the shadows like a tidal wave, screeching and hissing as that dashed towards the castaway as he finished off the spider that attempted to attack Spit.

"I HATE SPIDERS!" James exclaimed, clocking an Araneo in the side of the head as it lunged for him. Spit cried in agreement while he stuck close to James and hacked up globs of venom and nipped out at any that approached.

There had to have been over a dozen encircling them. Some hung back and fired streams of webbing and green, paralytic venom while others charged in to get in close. James ducked, dodged, and weaved in and out of sticky netting, venom streams, and dangerous fangs while lashing out with harsh kicks and swings of his hammer. Spit fared no better. His sharp teeth ripped off chitinous limbs and his own venom blinded the occasional spider, but he was much smaller than the Araneo, and one bite would be all it took to bring him down.

Spit spat another loogie at a lunging arachnid, successfully blinding it. It flew through the air, screeching towards James who turned in the nick of time and dodged it so that it collided with another.

Amongst the chaos, James's pack slipped free and hit the ground in the confusion of combat. It began to jerk and wriggle as the dodo bird inside fought to escape. Head-butting the top of the bag for the third time, Kenny successfully freed himself. He honked loudly as he stuck his head out of the pack and stared around at the battle.

Spit was the first to see that the idiotic bird had freed himself. Spitting out an orange, chitinous leg, he hissed and snapped at Kenny to force him inside the pack. Grabbing the pack in his teeth, Spit flipped it over on its side so Kenny couldn't get out again. He then turned his attention back to defending James, only to screech in shock as Kenny's entire head ripped through the side of the pack by his foot, honking loudly and startling the Dilo.

Grunting, James held a spider at bay with his hammer as it attempted to slam its front legs into him in an attempt to pin him. Gritting his teeth, he parried the legs aside and lashed out with a kick to the face which crushed its mandibles. An overhand swing of his hammer finished Araneo off. The spider's corpse flopped onto its side and its legs curled inward in a death pose.

Looking behind him, James watched as Spit hissed and fought with Kenny. The Dodo, whose head jutted out from a ripped hole in his pack, honked and bitched back at the dilo as he too returned Spits nips with jabbing pecks. James growled in annoyance at the bickering creatures.

"Damn it, Kenny!" He yelled.

However, with his attention focused on the two creatures' disagreement, it left James open to a nearby Araneo. The creature slammed into his side and knocked him to the stone floor. Before he could get back up, the Araneo sunk its fangs through his armor and into his flesh. "Gaaaaaah!" James screamed. Icy cold venom spread through his body and entered his muscle tissue, rendering him completely immobile. The Araneo arched its abdomen back and began to spray James down with a coating of strong webbing, bundling him up.

Kenny was the first to take note of his pained scream for some strange reason. Upon seeing the spider, the dodo ripped himself from the pack and charged, clucking and flapping his wings all the way up to the spider, and gave its leg a mighty peck. The Araneo wasn't even fazed by the dodo's attempt to defend his master. Rather, it turned and regarded him with a vicious gaze, briefly stopping its attempt to wrap up James.

A screech split the air as Spit charged and launched himself onto the Araneo's face, ripping and tearing into it with savage fury in place of his defenseless master. The spider screeched, immediately releasing James as it clawed at the Dilo with long legs. Spit did not relent. He continued to bite and scratch at its eyes and body as he made sure to end the threat. After a substantial amount of the spiders head was ripped off, the creature topped over. Green blood covered Spit as he leapt off the corpse and scampered to James. Standing directly over him, the Dilo faced the remaining spiders as they approached James's paralyzed form, chittering as they neared.

Unfurling his frill, Spit snarled and rose up to his full height. Kenny clucked a war cry, giving what could be described as an aggressive display by honking and flapping his wings by Spit's side.

As the spiders continued to near, a guttural hiss echoed from above before a dark shape dropped from the ceiling and squashed one of the Araneo. A long, thick tail lashed out at another, sending it crashing into the remaining two behind them. Five clawed toes punctured the stone floor as a massive reptilian creature slunk out of the shadows to place itself between Spit, Kenny, and James's unconscious and half-webbed form.

The last three Araneo ceased their attack, chittering and screaming at the new arrival.

The reptile was dark green in coloration with neon green stripes along its back and its underbelly slate-grey. A worn saddle was strapped to its body; the leather faded and the buckles badly rusted. Spit hissed lowly at the lizard as it swung its head to look back at them. Piercing blue eyes bore into Spits golden orbs with a lazy intensity before it looked over to Kenny, and then finally, to James. The quadruped flicked out a long, black tongue, tasting the air. James grunted, wincing in his unconscious slumber. The monitor lizard withdrew its tongue and turned back towards the hissing and squealing spiders. Opening its jaws, the monitor revealed a set of sharp, recurved fangs and let out a threatening hiss, snapping deadly jaws at the arachnids and sending saliva everywhere.

Chittering and hissing back, the Araneo slowly backed away and disappeared into the darkness. Spit and Kenny watched the Araneo scuttle away, leaving only a silent cave with only the groan of distant thunder echoing through their ears.

Looking up, Spit stared up at the large reptile. Flicking its forked tongue through scaly lips, the lizard ignored him and looked down at James, watching as Kenny waddled up to the unconscious castaway. Cocking his head, he pecked him in an attempt to wake him up.

Spit snarled at the idiotic bird, shoving him away from James and standing over him. The dodo honked back, flapping his wings as he stumbled to regain his balance. The lizard tilted its head, regarding the two bickering creatures curiously before dragging itself closer. It nosed Spit aside, who trilled in surprise, and the lizard gently seized the straps of James tattered chest plate in its teeth. Lifting him off the stone floor, it turned and began to slink into the darkness, dragging James with it. Hissing in alarm, Spit darted after the retreating reptile with Kenny in tow as the clucking Dodo waddled to keep up.

XXX

James moaned feverishly. His entire body was numb and aching with dull pain. Opening his eyes, he blinked a couple of times to make his surroundings become clear. God, what hit him? Lifting his head, James groaned, the pain suddenly becoming a lot less numb and more intense. His back hurt the worst, he found out as he sat up.

"Fuck!" He growled, gritting his teeth against the pain.

Bringing a hand up, he clasped at his lower back and felt something. He frowned as he felt holes in his armor. His fingers dipped deeper, and the tips touched a numb wetness. His eyes widened as he suddenly remembered. The holes in his back were from where the Araneo bit him.

 _He was feeling his own numb flesh._

Feeling sick to his stomach, James immediately withdrew his hands from the painless wounds and trying his best not to think about it as he got to his feet. After ripping the webbing off of his legs, he looked around and found he could actually see somewhat. Patches of large, glowing mushrooms grew along the wall and bathed the darkness with pale-green light.

Suddenly, James felt something collide into his side. He exclaimed out loud, stumbling sideways. Jerking his head, up he looked to see Spit smearing his face into his stomach, chirping happily as he nuzzled him.

"Spit!" James grinned, relief flowing through him at the sight of his companion. He got down on his knees and wrapped his arms around the excited dilo, rubbing a hand along his quills. He was so happy to see the dilo. For a moment, he feared the Araneo had gotten him.

 _Wait a minute..._

He frowned questioningly. Why wasn't either of them webbed up with the juices sucked out if them? Letting go of Spit, James stood up to get a view of his surroundings. A loud honk made him jump out of his skin. Whirling around, he found Kenny standing behind him. Chirping, the bird looked up at him. James frown deepened at the sight of the bird. A bit of disappointment edged into his system that the bird had somehow survived.

"How the hell are you still alive, Kenny?" James asked aloud.

Kenny honked at James before waddling up to him and nuzzled his leg. James, while still a bit ticked at being in this situation because of this bird, couldn't help but smile. Crouching, he scratched the top of his head and petted him, remembering how Kenny came to his defense before he blacked out.

"You did good, Kenny. Same goes for you, Spit." He acknowledged the little dilo, who trilled happily and walked up to his side to receive his own petting. James still couldn't wrap his head around one simple question. How the hell did were he, Spit, and Kenny NOT entombed in spider webbing and dead?

As if an answer to that question, a hiss sounded overhead. James jerked his head up, wincing as a few stray pebbles struck him on the face. Blinking, his eyes widened slightly as he watched a massive reptilian creature descend down the cave wall as if it were walking on a horizontal surface. James took a step back as it reached the floor, flicking its forked tongue out as it turned and faced him. Instinct made James reach for his hammer, which he found to be gone from his belt.

He cursed mentally as he looked up at the approaching reptile. Its dimly lit features suddenly become more prominent in the light of the bioluminescent mushrooms, and James's gasped when he spotted the last thing he expected to see on the creature; a saddle. Slight relief flowed over him as the lizard stopped before him, looking at him curiously.

"Hey, there," James greeted, raising a hand cautiously.

The lizard looked over at his hand questioningly. Flicking its long tongue, it tasted his fingers. James' fingers twitched and he had to withhold a small chuckle at how the tongue tickled his hand. After a moment of analyzing him, the lizard closed its eyes and pressed it's snout into his calloused palm. James smiled and brought his other hand up to stroke the beast's neck while he regarded its reins and head straps. He'd heard of these before, but like the Araneomorphus, never seen one.

The fearsome cave-crawler; the Megalania.

Megalania were massive, subterranean monitor-lizards that possessed a deadly, venomous bite that steadily sapped the life-force from the victim. It could kill a human in seconds while taking a good bit longer for anything larger than a Carno to keel over. They also could also cling to any surface. Like most lizards, they possessed a rather subdued and withdrawn personality, but were very mellow and even-tempered to their owners from what he'd heard. Which was why James was surprised to see this one accepting his petting. They hardly let strangers touch, let alone go near them.

In fact, where was its rider?

James squinted and looked around through the darkness until his eyes came to rest on a bundle in the middle of the cave. He stepped back from the stray Megalania and walked over to the bundle. Crouching down, he cautiously felt the object and quickly identified part of it to be the remnants of a campfire. The little circle of rocks held mostly cold ash, but a good majority of the wood was still burnable. James felt around in his pouch and brought out a stone and a piece of flint. Setting them at his feet, he reached into the fireplace, adjusted the half-burnt wood, then he took the rock and flint and began to strike them together. After a few series of strikes and some choice curse words, a spark managed to catch the wood. Lowering himself, James blew on the wood to feed the small spark before reaching over to pluck a glowing mushroom and set it against the spark. The mushroom began to smoke before igniting. Shoving the burning fungi under the logs, James gathered more mushrooms and tossed them into the fire. Soon, he had a fire that illuminated a majority of the cave.

Just in front of him, leaned up against the wall, was a cloth pack with a broken spear beside it, and what appeared to be chunks of chitin lining the floor. Frowning, James stood up, rubbing the Megalania under the chin as he passed it, and grabbed the pack. Opening it, he found a jar with old, rotted berries inside, and a journal. James sat aside the jar and pulled out the small journal. Its frayed cover didn't appear to be in bad shape. Stroking the cover, James opened it and flipped to the first page.

 _Day 1_

 _We're embarking to the west to find the Painted Sharks. Got some cargo to drop off, maybe get a few things in return. Could use a new pike, now that I think on it. I wore mine down stabbing one of those damned centipedes. Marious didn't tell me they had acidic blood! Ah well, ol Bruton took care of the chitinous bastard quite quickly. I'll never be able to repay him for all the times he saved my life. Maybe some of that seabird kibble will be payment enough. Either that or a nice, warm rock._

"So, your owner was a merchant," James said quietly, looking over at the Megalania. "And your name is Bruton? Huh, not a bad name."

The lizard chuffed softly, walking up beside James and flicking his tongue. Flipping through the journal, James found that there were only a few other pages. A couple telling of the survivor's trek to the Painted Sharks. The last one was a bit more disheartening.

 _I…. I don't remember what day it is. I've used the last of my rations and my torch died hours ago since I fell into this cave. I've relied on Bruton to help keep those fucking spiders at bay, but they just keep coming. They eventually overwhelmed him and damn near killed him. I managed to get to him in time, but one of those damn bugs got me right in the side. Pretty sure it fucked up a kidney or something important. The venom keeps the pain at bay but took out my legs. Now, I'm sitting here with ol' Bruton waiting for the inevitable. If…if someone finds this and reads this, take good care of Bruton. He's all I have left of my tribe. I know he'll make it; he's too damn stubborn to die. Especially from a bunch of spiders. But, if you find him, please take good care of him because I don't think I'll be around much longer to do that..._

A large blood stain covered the rest page and gave James the answer to what befell Bruton's rider.

"Holy shit," James whispered, looking over at the Megalania laying by his side. The reptile lifted its head, regarding him with a questioning gaze.

James' eyes softened on the beast and his heart bled for the riderless Megalania. Many creatures of the island had a habit of dying either from natural causes or, and most commonly, in combat. But it was always the saddest to find an abandoned creature that managed to survive, unlike its owner.

"Don't worry," James said, patting the lizard on the side of the neck, "I'll take care of ya."

Bruton snorted and leaning into James petting. Spit and Kenny were lying by his side, resting from their previous battle.

"But first, we need to figure a way out." James stood up. Spit's head immediately shot up. Following his master lead, the Dilo was on his feet. Kenny honked in agreement and sat up. Squinting into the darkness, James glanced down at the crackling fire and got an idea. Walking up to the broken spear resting by the wall, he took the broken shaft and ripped pieces off the musty old pack. Wrapping them tightly around the broken spear shaft before sticking it into the fire and lighting it to create a makeshift torch.

As he started forward with Spit and Kenny in tow, he paused to look back at Bruton, who remained rooted to his spot staring after him lazily but hesitantly.

James smiled gently at the unsure beast, "Let's go, Bruton." He said. James brought two fingers to his lips and gave a sharp whistle; a follow command used throughout the island's tribes.

Perking his head up at the sound, the lizard lifted a clawed foot and took a half step towards him, hesitation still poisoning its thoughts. Finally, it approached and stopped next to James, awaiting his next move.

"Alright, let's go." The castaway thrust the torch into the air, lighting the way ahead as they made their way to the exit.

XXXXXX

Takagi was considering a leash.

"If this becomes a regular thing with him getting attacked by crocodiles and falling off cliffs, I'm gonna push him off the next one I see!" The pinkette growled as she sped to keep up with the others.

"He's only done that once!" Rei complained.

The seven zombie slayers and two dinosaurs were jogging along the edge of the waterfall, trying to find a way down to where their castaway companion had fallen that wasn't through gravity or scaling down the cliffside. So far, it was steep drops and long ways down to where the river emptied into the swamp.

They still hadn't seen any sign of James's body. Or Spit's, or Kenny's.

"There's got to be a way down!" Takashi hollered.

"Well, I'm not seeing anything!" Takagi called back. "He's probably dead!"

"We need to follow the incline down to the river!" Saeko yelled to the others "It's the only way we can take!"

"But we might be too late!" Marikawa Shizuka called worriedly from her place on Chi-Ha's saddle, gripping onto Kohta. Little Alice held on for dear life onto Emerald's as the raptor gave short occasional dashes along the cliff edge. Cawing in alarm. The Utahraptor went nuts when she saw her alpha go over the edge. Their ears were still ringing from the raptors terrified roar for her alpha.

"You've got a better idea?" Saeko shot back hotly "Let's just follow Emerald; she knows where she's going!"

The raptor did indeed. She led the charge, albeit far ahead of the group, and didn't look to be stopping any time soon. Her pale blue feathers were the only thing that helped them keep track of her through the green. The raptor was leading them down a grassy slope along the outskirts of the swamp's forest and was hanging a far right towards the river bank. It was a tiresome detour, and by the time they caught up with her, they were all out of breath.

"Do you see him?" Kohta questioned as Chi-Ha came to a lumbering stop behind them. The massive herbivore was panting heavily from the sprint, and it was becoming clear that the Trike was not built for stamina.

"I don't know, do you?" Takagi snapped as she clutched a stitch in her side "Geez, running from _Them_ wasn't as tiresome..."

Emerald's blue eyes constantly scanned the rushing water and she occasionally barked and called out to her missing alpha in hopes he'd appear, pacing the bank restlessly.

"Someone want to shut the lizard up before she attracts any unwanted attention?" Takagi complained.

Takashi glanced into the dense forest behind them before looking back to the noisy raptor. They group had _plenty_ of experience in dealing with creatures attracted by sound, and he didn't want to take any chances testing the theory that there were animals that hunted by sound on this island. Slowly, he stepped forward, putting on a brave face and reaching out to the green raptor.

"Um, Emerald-san?" Takashi spoke softly in the way James did to her whenever she was agitated. The tips of his fingers barely brushed the blue of her tail feathers. Emerald whirled around and snapped her jaws on where Takashi's arm would have been if he didn't withdraw it in time. Emerald snarled and advanced on the young teen with claws outstretched and fangs bared. "Whoa!" Takashi exclaimed as he backpedaled away from the angry dinosaur "Emerald calm down!" The young boy filched as the raptor snapped her jaws at him again, but the young girl on her pack proved to be the saving grace. Her tiny hands stroked down her the blue feathers along her head and neck.

"It's okay, Emerald-san," Alice spoke into the raptor's ear "James onii-san is strong. He'll be okay." The Utahraptor snarled softly and her eyes narrowed at the tiny girl on her back. Alice's eyes were wide and compassionate, and most of all, understanding. The beta raptor's breathing began to calm and she slowly relaxed. Alice smiled and brushed back the raptor's feathers again.

"Alice be careful!" Rei commanded worriedly. Her eyes darted from the sharp claws and pointy teeth that could easily rip the little girl apart.

"Emerald-san wouldn't hurt me." Alice pouted "She's just worried about James!" Her small fingers rubbed circles along the raptor's jaw. The reptile chuffed softly in response.

"Well, look at that," Kohta observed fondly.

However, the moment was shattered a second later.

Emerald's feathers shot up and she spat out a cry of warning at the trees as Chi-Ha bellowed lowly and turned his horned head towards the treeline. The seven survivors looked towards where the dinosaurs had turned and gasped at the buzzing of wings and chitinous armor glinting in the sun.

Ten insectoid creatures the size of dogs were headed straight for them; three were flying on huge, buzzing wings ten feet off the ground while the other seven were scuttling across the ground through the grass towards them.

"What the heck!?" Takagi screeched and took a step back.

Rei leveled her pike she had gained from the Swamp Lotus at the incoming insects "What are they?"

"Some girls from the tribe told me about these!" Alice supplied as Emerald backed up towards the waterline "They said they were...um...uh...Titanomyrma!"

"Giant ants?" Saeko questioned with a grimace.

"Maybe they're friendly!" Shizuka commented from atop Chi-Ha.

"That's not what they told me!" said Alice, cowering back on Emerald. Zero popped up from inbetween Shizuka's bosom, barking and snarling at the incoming insects

Takashi pulled out his hatchet with a snarl "Well, whatever they are, they're about to get squashed!" And he charged forward against the cries of protest from Rei and Saeko. Takashi swung at the flying Soldier Titanomyrma with the blade of his hatchet and slashed off one of its wings. The Soldier went spiraling out of control and crashed into a bush while the other two Soldiers dove at him. Takashi ducked out of the way of the two Soldiers and narrowly dodged the snapping mandibles of the Drones. However, the other two Soldier Titanomyrma slowly turned around and buzzed back towards him

"Takashi, you idiot!" Rei screamed as she rushed forward and smacked one out of the way of Takashi and impaled the other on the end of her pike. After that, she pulled Takashi out of the way of the snapping Drones and stabbing out at them with her pike.

"R-Rei?" Takashi questioned.

"Pay more attention to your surroundings!" The chestnut girl chided, glaring at the shocked Takashi crossly.

Suddenly, a large crocodilian creature erupted from beneath the river just a few feet ahead of them like a missile and sailed towards them with claws outstretched and jaws wide to seize them. Takashi shoved Rei aside, exclaiming as the reptilian knocked him to the ground. Scrambling back, Takashi swung his hatchet at the beast as it prowled towards him, hissing with open jaws.

"Takashi!" Saeko unsheathed her sword. Dashing to his aid, she thrust her katana through the side of the beast's skull and stopped it just as its fangs hovered directly above Takashi's trembling head. Takashi gasped as the beast collapsed on top of his legs.

"Are you okay?" Saeko questioned urgently, crouching by his side to check him for injuries.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Takashi huffed, pulling his legs out from under the deceased creature. "Thank you, Saeko-san."

Saeko smiled, nodding.

"Uh, guys!"

The two teens raised their heads, widening their eyes as more of the jumping crocodiles appeared from the river loping towards them, hissing and snapping their jaws.

"What the heck are _these?!"_ Takagi cried out in terror.

"Kaprosuchus!" Alice cried, hiding behind Emerald. The raptor snarled at the approaching crocs.

 _Kaprosuchus_ bore a strong resemblance to its much larger relative, the Sarcosuchus, but was an entirely different animal. It was only slightly larger than a man with long legs built for sprinting after any land-based prey that escaped its initial ambush; pouncing from the water like a spring and seizing the victim in its large jaws. Its tusk-like fangs had earned it the nickname "Boar-Croc" amongst the Swamp Lotus, seeing as they hunted these creatures like one would wild pigs. Its hind legs were longer than its front, giving it a very distinct galloping gait and its head was smaller and narrower than a Sarco with a more rectangular snout.

Emerald bared her fangs as the four reptiles slid to a halt and hissed at the large raptor and focused on Alice, who trembled in fear and cowered against Emerald's neck. Emerald lifted her claws, snapping her jaws at the beasts to draw their attention to her.

"Alice," Hirano moved Chi-Ha beside the raptor, who barked and snarled at a brave Kapro that lurched closer. The otaku seized the young girl, who protested at being suddenly removed from Emerald's back, "You don't want to be in the middle of this!"

Truer words have never been spoken.

With Alice removed from her back, Emerald dashed forward, meeting the center Kaprosuchus head on. The raptor snarled as she bit down on the beast's scaly neck and lifted it off the ground. Grasping its sides with her long arms, she sunk her claws into its thick skin and slammed it to the ground, earning a hiss of pain. Emerald gave a muffled snarl as she shook her head violently and snapped the Kapro's neck with a loud crack. One of the Kapros to her left jumped forward and tackled the female raptor off its deceased pack mate. The two animals rolled across the bank, snarling and snapping their jaws at each other. Lashing out with a clawed foot, Emerald plunged her deadly toe-claw into the croc's jugular tore through muscle and scales, ripping its throat out.

While the Utahraptor was still down, another Kapro sprinted towards her in an attempt to seize her in its large jaws.

"Emerald-san!" Alice cried.

"Oh no, you don't!" Kohta snarled and tapped Chi-Ha's sides with his heels. The Trike bellowed and charged her massive head into the airborne Kapro just as it was about to pounce upon Emerald. The Kapro gave a guttural hiss as it sailed into the river with a loud splash. Whipping his rifle out of its holster, Kohta took aim at the remaining Kapro as it snarled and hissed at Emerald. The Raptor held her ground, roaring and lashing out at the crocodilian with her long arms. Steadying his aim, Kohta aimed just past Emerald's head and waited for her thrashing jaws to move just a bit more to the left. After Emerald reared her head back to roar, Hirano tensed, clenched his jaw, and fired.

The bullet struck the Kapro right in between the eyes as it lurched for Emerald and it flopped to the ground, dead at the feet of a stunned Emerald. The raptor turned and faced Hirano with blue eyes wide with shock.

Hirano gave a nervous smile and gave the raptor a thumb up. Emerald snorted, her eyes returning back to their usual narrowed state.

"Kohta onii-san..." Alice gasped, her eyes sparkling "That was so cool!" The little girl exclaimed in excitement.

Hirano chuckled, scratching the back of his head nervously while resting his rifle on his shoulder, "It was nothing, really." he chuckled sheepishly.

The others ogled the rifle-wielding Trike-rider, greatly impressed by his marksmanship once again.

Suddenly, a purple blur slammed into the two seated riders and knocked Hirano, Shizuka, and Alice off. They cried out at the imposing force of the assailant. It was the third Kapro; the one Chi-Ha knocked into the river. The young Trike bellowed in confusion and fear as the Kapro wound up leaping off and landed in front of Alice. Alice whimpered. Pulling herself up, she gasped as the Kapro turned its attention to her. Hissing, it lunged for the young girl.

A mighty roar sounded as Emerald intercepted the Kapro and slammed her head into its ribs, head-butting it to the side and stood protectively over Alice. The little girl managed to get to her feet, clinging to Emerald's long leg as the Kapro scrambled back to its feet, hissing and snarling. The raptor roared at the crocodilian, feathers bristling and claws flexed. She stood between it and the little girl, sidestepping to cut off any access to Alice.

While the Kapro was focused on getting to Alice, Chi-Ha charged in. Her horns scooped up the slender beast and she tossed her horns upwards to send the snarling creature flying into the air. Emerald leaped up and caught the beast before it hit the ground, pinning it and thrashing her head, shaking the hissing beast in her jaws like a ragdoll before tossing it back at Chi-Ha who swung her head sideways and bashed the creature like a baseball once more into the river. This time, its lifeless corpse floated to the surface and drifted in the current before it was devoured in a flurry of fins and teeth by Megapirannah.

The group took a second to catch their breath from the sudden onslaught of attacks, panting and regrouping together.

"Does everything on this island want to kill us?" Saya shrieked.

"No different than what we're used to, then, eh Takagi-san?" Kohta laughed awkwardly. The pinkette's harsh glare shut his mouth a second later.

...And a second after that, Chi-Ha bellowed in pain and bucked as a ferocious hiss filled the air. A familiar, serpentine shape reared back and lashed out again to bite into Chi-Ha's calf again.

"Chi-Ha!" Kohta cried as the trike toppled forward, whimpering deliriously and her eyes fluttering feverishly.

A loud hiss drew their attention as a massive snake slithered over the heaving unconscious trike. Unfurling its vibrant frill, it hissed at the group while wrapping its coils around the trikes neck. Water dripping from its slender figure.

"Titanoboa!' Alice squeaked, hiding behind Emerald who snarled at the massive serpent.

The snake hissed at the raptor, its coils tightening around the trike to the point the beast was choking in its unconscious slumber.

"It's got Chi-Ha!" Kohta cried, whipping his gun up. He fired a shot at the snake, which jerked as the bullet struck its flank. It hissed like a punctured tire, but wasn't visibly affected. "Shit!" Hirano swore, pulling the lever and reloading. Quickly finding out he was out of ammo. "I'm out!" The otaku looked over at his unconscious Trike as it was slowly being strangled to death by the towering serpent with despair filling him, unsure about what to do.

Takashi charged at the titanic serpent with a battle cry and swung his hatchet. The snake ducked under his swing with a hiss. Suddenly, it shot forward and bit down on the teen's torso, pumping its narcotic venom into his system.

Takashi cried out in pain. Gritting his teeth he brought his free fist up and punched the top of the serpent's head. The strike was all in vain, for the snake simply switched targets and sprang off Chi-Ha onto easier prey. "GAH!" Takashi gasped as the serpent began to wrap its coils around him and apply unbelievable force around his frame.

Hirano and Takagi dashed forward to help, but the serpent swung its head sideways and knocking them of them aside before returning its seething cold glare to the encased Takashi man as he slipped further into unconsciousness.

"Takashi!" Rei and Saeko cried as the snake slowly opened its jaws. A menacing his escaping its jaws which dripped with saliva while revealing its many rows of curved, sharp fangs. The two women sprinted forward. Uttering a battle cry, the spear-wielding Amazon plunged her spearhead into the snake's coils encasing its young victim. The serpent hissed in pain, jerking its cold reptilian eyes onto the girl as she spat, "Let go of him!"

The snake arched its neck and struck, biting down on the shaft of Rei's spear as she lifted it to block the strike. The girl exclaimed in surprise as the snake managed to lift her off the ground. Twisting its long neck, it slung the girl away. Rei gave a sharp cry as she slid across the dry mud. The Titanoboa slowly turned to return to its meal. Suddenly, a shining blur came down across its neck.

 _SHLICK!_

The snakes shimmering orange eyes widened. Its mouth hung open limply, and for a brief moment, it stared blankly at the half-conscious Takashi entombed in its coils before its head slowly slipped off its long body. Blood oozed and spurted from the severed neck. The coils loosened and releasing Takashi, who gasped for breath.

"Takashi-kun!" Saeko gasped, sheathing her bloody sword as she came beside the fallen young man.

Takashi rasped weakly, barely responsive.

"Onii-san!" Alice cried, running up to the young man's side with Emerald and Shizuka right behind her.

"Come on, get up!" Saeko pleaded shaking the weak young man.

"He'll be okay, Saeko-san." Shizuka squeaked, "The Swamp Lotus villagers told me that the Titanoboa's venom is not deadly. It just knocks you out."

Saeko gave a shaky sigh of relief. "Kami, that's good," she said, stroking the unconscious young man's hair. Rei, Takagi and Hirano limped up to the four.

"Is he going to be okay?" Rei asked worriedly.

"Yea, he'll be fine." Shizuka sighed. "Just out of it for a little while. He should come too soon." The others sighed in relief.

"What about Chi-Ha?" Hirano limped up to his slumbering mount, stroking her crest as she groaned weakly.

"She'll be fine as well, Kohta-chan." Shizuka assured, "In fact, she should be up quicker than Takashi-chan."

Hirano breathed a sigh of relief as he traced the rivets in the Trike's spiked frill "Good." He moaned "James-san said that this island was dangerous, but I didn't think it'd be like this."

Saeko's sharp eyes scanned the river line as her grip on her sword tightened. She said "He was right. We aren't prepared for this island..."

Bubbles and ripples came from the river behind them. The others turned their gazes onto the river as the movement beneath the water intensified. Then, a Sarco exploded out of the water.

Everyone screamed as the titanic crocodile slammed onto the bank, snapping its massive jaws. The raw noise sounded similar to a gunshot as the creature belly-dragged towards them with beady, slitted eyes glinting with hunger.

"Shizuka, Takagi; get Takashi and Alice out of here!" Saeko commanded, unsheathing her sword and facing the stampeding croc "Hirano, reload quickly! Me and Miyamoto will hold it off!"

Everyone immediately complied. Shizuka hurried Alice on top of Emerald who roared to meet the incoming crocodilian. Alice wrapped her arms around the female raptor to keeping her from dashing towards the beast.

"Please, help us get Takashi onii-san to safety!" Her wide eyes regarded the female raptor with a silent plea.

Emerald froze in her steps. Cocking her head, she regarded the young girl with a chilly stare before turning and facing the Sarco as Saeko and Rei fanned out around it. Lifting her lips, Emerald gave a throaty snarl, then suddenly whirled around and stomped up to Shizuka and Takagi while they attempted to drag Takashi to safety. The young women looked up in surprise as the female raptor loomed over them. Lowering her snout, she seized the unconscious young man by the scruff of his coat and picked him up like a mother cat would her kitten. Stomping over to the brushes, she lowered herself to allow Alice off and dropped Takashi within a sheet of ferns as softly as she could manage. Shizuka and Takagi gapped at the young girl and the vicious raptor in awe, completely taken aback at how she'd followed the young girls command so willingly.

"Thank you, Emerald-san," Alice whispered, stroking the raptor's neck.

Emerald gave a low acknowledging growl before lifting her head. Turning, she roared; lifting her long arms and brandishing her claws. She sprinted past Shizuka and Takagi who stepped out of the way of the attacking Utahraptor as it dashed past them towards the Sarcosuchus.

Rei leaped in and gave the beast a swift swipe to its side and darting out of the way of its massive jaws as Saeko leaped onto the creatures back with her sword raised. She plunged it downwards into the beasts back, but the thick scales prevented her from doing much damage, much to Saeko's dismay.

"Damn it, my sword can't pierce its hide!" She grunted, pressing down as hard as she could to pierce the scaly armor. The Sarco hissed angrily, thrashing around as it attempted to buck the young woman off to snap her up in its jaws.

Gritting his teeth, Hirano opened his palm to look at the last reserves of his ammunition. "Four bullets left. This isn't good." Hirano swallowed hard. Shaking his head, he growled and reloaded his rifle. Maybe, if he could get a shot at its head, it would end this! Crouching on one knee, he took a steady aim as the Sarco parted its jaws, and fired. The bullet struck the creature in the side of the head and practically bounced off. The Sarco bellowed a booming growl as it gave a final thrash, successfully throwing Saeko off its back. The swordswoman twisted nimbly in midair to land on her feet and turned to face the giant croc. A large scaly tail caught her in the ribs, sending her tumbling across the bank.

"Saeko-san!" Rei cried.

She looked over at the unmoving young woman with wide, fearful eyes and flinched as the croc shifted its predatory gaze onto her and moved forward with open jaws. A roar echoed overhead as Emerald pounced on top of its massive head. Emeralds claws and teeth didn't provide much more effect at punching through the croc's hide as Saeko's blade. However, one of her claws managed to hook itself into the Sarco's eye. Hissing, the beast thrashed its head and snapped its jaws, trying to shake the raptor off who continued to rake her claws across its bulbous snout.

Suddenly, a bellow sounded as Chi-Ha, having finally gotten back to her feet, charged in.

The trike slammed her thick horns directly into the side of the Sarcosuchus, embedding them all the way to the end. The Sarco hissed in agony as the Trike shoved it sideways, digging a deep gorge into the ground as she pushed it across the bank with Emerald leaping off as the Trike shoved the titanic croc past Rei and Saeko's unconscious form. The Trike jerked its head up, flipping the croc onto its back with bloody horns. Chi-Ha reared back on her hind legs and came down once more with her horns to gore the thrashing, belly-up croc. The Sarco gave a final, dying hiss, its thrashing mellowing down to a few twitches before falling still. Everyone gave a collective shaky sigh of relief as Chi-Ha removed her horns from the Sarco's corpse.

"Good job, Chi-Ha." Hirano praised as the trike lumbered up to him, whining softly and rubbing her head against him, "I knew I could count on you!"

"Glad she's on our side." Rei quipped, helping Saeko to her feet.

The young woman winced, grasping her injured side. "I take it back. We _really_ aren't prepared for this island."

Rei pressed her lips into a thin line and nodded in agreement.

Hirano scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "Guess you're right. Bullets didn't seem to do much."

Takagi crossed her arms "That'd be because of those scales." She said, "Busujima is correct; we're not ready."

Hirano deflated slightly.

"But..." Everyone turned to the pinkette as she went on, "Perhaps we could gain a better understanding from our resident wildman...if he's still alive."

"Wait, like, have James teach us?" Hirano offered.

"Not just teach; _train_ us." she looked over at Hirano, Saeko and Rei. She motioned her head over to Takashi's unconscious form in the ferns, "Our fearless leader's bravado can only do us so much good here. We NEED to be more integrated in the ways of the place if we're to survive."

Saeko nodded in agreement. "Agreed. We each have our own skill set. With James's understanding of this place, we'll be prepared for anything."

Takagi nodded.

"Not to mention James could show us a few things, combat wise," Rei added.

Saeko smirked, "We're all well-learned in the art of combat."

Rei returned the smirk, "I wouldn't be so quick to rule James's combat capabilities inferior to your own. I've seen the way he fights."

Saeko shook her head, "Our ways of fighting are different. We're both dangerous, but we have very different styles of fighting." At Rei's raised eyebrow, Saeko elaborated "James has adapted to take down the inhabitants of this island. He uses heavy, sweeping strikes, powerful blows, and hit-and-run tactics one would use against larger and faster creatures." She flicked her hair out of her face and told Rei "He's trained to fight dinosaurs. We've been trained to fight humans."

Rei raised an eyebrow "You think you can beat him?" She asked, genuinely curious.

Saeko grew serious, "Wild and unpredictable as it may be, it's not as uniform as my own." "However, I'm not calling myself superior. In fact, if he and I were not allies, there's no way of predicting the winner. From what I've gathered from watching James since we've been here, he is very combat oriented, not to mention he has impressive physical conditioning for his age; something he utilizes in controlled bursts while fighting. I don't know a lot of people back home that could trade blows with a dinosaur."

Saeko walked over to her discarded sword which had been knocked out of her hand during the fight and picked it up and sheathed it. She said, "Underestimating James is a foolish decision, hence why so many raiders died by his hand back at the encampment we attacked. However, in our overconfidence in our abilities led to our capture."

While doing so, she heard a small groan. Turning, she watched as Takashi sit up from the patch of ferns, rubbing his forehead gingerly. "Ahhh, shit..." he groaned.

"Takashi!" Saeko gasped. The girl dashed over to the young man and enveloped him in a tight hug.

Takashi was taken aback by the sudden hug. He hesitantly brought his arms around the swordswoman with features a light shade of pink. "I'm okay." he smiled.

"I'm glad." Saeko sighed. Tightening her hold around the young man, she whispered in his ear "I was worried."

Takashi held her tighter.

A tick mark grew atop Rei's head at the sight. "Yeesh, get a room!" She complained. Hirano, Takagi, Shizuka and Alice chuckled sheepishly at the sight. After everyone was situated, the group gave Takashi a brief explanation of what went down while he was unconscious.

"Wow. You kill these things?" Takashi gaped at the deceased Sarcosuchus corpse.

"Thanks to Chi-Ha!' Hirano chirped, rubbing the side of the Trike's jaw who accepted the petting.

Takashi's gaze traveled over to the fallen Titanoboa and he frowned at the sight of the decapitated head that lay beside its body within a puddle of mud and blood. "Good thing its venom wasn't deadly..." he muttered. His frown deepened. He hadn't known that. In fact, he didn't even entertain the fact that this thing was venomous. He'd dived in too quickly; rushed in headlong like he would have done against one of Them. It was a small mistake that could have cost him his life. And what's to say the next thing they come across would be much harder to kill? What's to say something that was too powerful for their little group found them? He glanced over at the others, who watched him anxiously and sighed. They needed to learn more about this place, and fast!

He turned and faced them.

"I agree with what you said. We should let James teach us." Everyone nodded in agreement. "We can't rely on him to save us all the time, or to think for a second we know enough to keep ourselves safe; not in a place like this. Today was a lesson I'm thankful we didn't learn the hard way."

"Agreed," Saeko added, "We're very lucky to be alive."

"What do you think we should learn first?" Alice questioned, resting her chin on top of Emeralds head. The raptor glanced up at the young girl before returning her cool gaze to Takashi as he spoke.

"It's like Takagi said, the fighters of the group should learn how to fight the inhabitants of the island. Along the way, he'll teach the rest of us about the plants and the general history of the island." Takashi explained.

"I still don't know about the fighting thing," Hirano said quietly. "I'm not much of an 'up close and personal' kind of guy. Besides, it's not like training will do much good if we come across guys with guns anyways."

Saeko crossed her arms, "We've had similar discussions about guns being superior to swords before, Kohta-kun. However, considering today's circumstances, we can agree neither was superior."

Hirano tensed at the memory of their argument. While the fiery otaku spirit within him refused to acknowledge swords being comparable to guns, Saeko had a point. Their weapons had little effect on the beasts. Chi-Ha's prehistoric strength was what saved them in the end.

Deflating a little, Hirano sighed in defeat. "Yeah, you're right." Shizuka smiled, giving the otaku a brief reassuring pat on the back. "But, wait," Hirano suddenly said, looking up, "We still need to find, James-san."

"Like I said if he's even alive." Takagi sighed.

"He's alive." Everyone looked over at Rei who tapped her spear into the ground, "He's survived worse, you know."

"Hmm, you seem pretty sure of that," Takagi smirked.

"What do you mean?" Rei raised a questioning brow.

"Oh Rei, it's obvious you have a crush on our castaway guide." Shizuka giggled.

Rei's face lit up bright red. Her lips fought to make words but a stream of stuttering merely came as the chestnut haired girl tried to defend herself.

"I-I-Well-!"

"It's the body isn't it?" Takagi teased "And those muscles...my god, you could grind meat on those things..."

"He's not too bad looking, either." Saeko smirked further as they teased the blushing brunette "That jawline slices right through your heart..."

Takashi and Kohta stood by with sweatdrops slowly forming as both Takagi and Saeko swooned.

"No, no, no," Shizuka shook her head, leaning in she whispered into Takagi's ear, "It's that-" Before the nurse could finish the handle of Rei's spear silenced her. "Oooooow!" Shizuka whined, rubbing the steaming welt atop her head.

"Do not be spreading false accusations!" Rei snarled with fire in her eyes.

The others chuckled at the sight as Rei continued to bark at the wounded nurse. Takashi gave a small smile. It was good to see Rei take an interest in someone else. It kept her off his and Saeko's back. However, that small spark inside of him still held feelings for her, and

somewhat rubbed him the wrong way.

In reality, it just brought back memories of Hisashi.

Takashi frowned at the memories that began to unfold in his mind, but a cold frown forced them away, "Come on," the young man ushered the group to follow down the bank. "We need to find our guide before something else does."

Everyone complied and close behind the young man as the made their way down the muddy river bank in search for James.

XXXXXX

AN: Alight there we go, another chapter! I'm so happy and thankful for all the support and reviews you guys, keep it up! Now for a couple of announcements. First off, by the time you read this I will have the very first chapter of me and bobthekraken's very own story. An Until Dawn story titled Silver Dawn. If you are puzzled by the title of this story then swing by and question no more!

Now with this in mind, a fair warning will be had right now and when you read the first chapter of Silver Dawn, as well as some words from my co-author bobthekraken. The story is centered around an OC. HOWEVER, it still revolves around the cast of the Until Dawn but in a unique fashion. Me and bob busted our butt's with the story, and its lore and will NOT tolerate any mindless flaming. Constructive criticism is acknowledged but constant badgering over how awful a story is JUST because its centered around an OC and nothing more without so much as reading the story or giving it a chance is rude and uncalled for. With that said, I hope to see you all over there and continuing both Ark and, now, Silver Dawn.

One finally announcement. I've requesting everyone for a vote. Specifically on one final story idea. To all you dinosaur fan's its crossed with Jurassic Park. Interested? Well I have something to ask of you all. If you would want either of these dinosaurs as a protagonist which would it be? Large dinosaurs only mind you. Leave a review or PM me personally with your vote.

Rex (Everyone fears the mighty T-rex)

2\. Carcharadontosaurus

3\. Giganotosaurus

4\. A Pitch Black Indominus Rex

5\. Acrocanthosaurus

6\. Velociraptor (Good ol' Raptor OC's am I right?)

7\. Allosaurus


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